Am J Med Public Health | Volume 2, Issue 3 | Research Article | Open Access
Hermann Ngouakam1*, Eleonore Ngounou2, Tophele Padji1 and Abdel Jelil Njouendou2
1Department of Public Health, University of Buea, South West Region, Cameroon
2Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Buea, South West Region, Cameroon
*Correspondance to: Hermann Ngouakam
Fulltext PDFBackground: Preeclampsia is a global public health concern which affects pregnant women both in developed and developing countries and it is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in the world. Lack of knowledge on signs/symptoms of preeclampsia has been shown to be one of the factors that contribute to the increase of further complications due to preeclampsia. Despite this, to the best of our knowledge no similar study has been done in the Buea Health District.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and knowledge of preeclampsia among pregnant women attending antenatal in the Buea Health District.
Method: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted between February to June 2020 in the Buea Health District. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to select 16 health facilities from the five health areas selected and a consecutive sampling technique was used to recruit 422 pregnant women. An administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive analysis was done using was charts and graphs. A scoring system was used to measure the knowledge.
Results: The age range which was between 18 and 44, with the highest range group between 26 to 30 years 174 (41.23%) with a mean age of 28.35 years ± 4.64 and were married (50.2 %). The prevalence of preeclampsia was 0.47%. Among 422 pregnant women, 61.6%, 36.9% and 1.5% had an inadequate, moderate and adequate knowledge respectively. Among the pregnant women that have an adequate knowledge 36.9% had a moderate knowledge and 1.5% had an adequate knowledge on
preeclampsia.
Conclusion: We found a prevalence of preeclampsia of 0.47% and an overall adequate knowledge on PE among pregnant women was low in the Buea Health District which shows that providing and improving information on preeclampsia is needed.
Prevalence; Preeclampsia; Pregnant women; knowledge; Buea Health District
Ngouakam H, Ngounou E, Padji T, Njouendou AJ. Prevalence and Knowledge of Preeclampsia among Pregnant Women in the Buea Health District South-West Cameroon. Am J Med Public Health. 2021;2(3):1023.