“When I am with my husband, I do not feel mosquito bite”: Insecticide-treated net usage among pregnant women, Accra, Ghana
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 13 March 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how socio-cultural beliefs and practices could influence the knowledge, attitude and perception of insecticide-treated net (ITN) use in the control of malaria amongst pregnant women attending antenatal clinic.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered using interviews and documentary review. Framework analysis was applied to classify emerging themes and the findings interpreted using the health belief model.
Findings
The findings showed that the pregnant women had appreciable knowledge, both the positive and negative attitudes and the perceptions of insecticide treated nets. To most of them, sleeping under an ITN would not affect pregnancy/cause abortion, but rather prevent mosquito bites and associated malaria.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations include the sample size of participants and health facilities used. Lack of application of a quantitative research method meant that the authors could not quantify the findings to ensure generalisation to the entire population.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that health policy makers, implementers and health professionals need to appreciate the perception and the attitude of pregnant women when designing policy guidelines for the malaria control programme.
Social implications
This paper helps to elucidate on how socio-cultural beliefs and practices could influence the knowledge, attitude and perception of ITN usage amongst both pregnant women and people in malaria endemic communities.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that health policy makers, implementers and health professionals have to devise strategies to address socio-cultural beliefs and practices in the scaling up of malaria control programmes.
Keywords
Citation
Quist, M.A. and Adomah-Afari, A. (2017), "“When I am with my husband, I do not feel mosquito bite”: Insecticide-treated net usage among pregnant women, Accra, Ghana", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 148-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-03-2016-0032
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited