Assessment of hypoglycaemia and aneamia associated with malaria parasitaemia among pregnant women attending some selected hospitals in Kano metropolis

Abstract

Malaria in pregnancy is one of the major factors leading to anaemia and hypoglycaemia. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of malaria, anaemia and hypoglycaemia on pregnant women attending antenatal care at Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital and Murtala Muhammad specialist Hospital. A total of 128 pregnant women, who granted informed consent, were recruited for the study. Demographic information such as their age, number of previous pregnancies and the age of present pregnancies were collected using structural questionnaire. Blood samples were collected and used to prepare Giemsa-stained smears for determination of the presence of malaria parasites in pregnant women. Packed Celled Volume (PCV) on a Hawksley micro haematocrit reader using blood samples collected into capillary tubes and centrifuge at 300rpm, Haemoglobin concentration was read using Hemocue machine and Glucose level was taken using Redox Reagents according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The collected data were analysed using open -Epi statistical software. Results showed that malaria was higher in youngest with (65.5%) occurrence rate, and oldest (34%) age groups while anaemia is higher in younger age group of (16-30) years (50.9%) by PCV and (47.3%) by Hb, by (31-45) years is (12.7%) and (21.8%) respectively. In contrast, pregnant women are susceptible to hypoglycaemia and based on our findings, higher positive cases were obtained in the second trimester (61.8%) followed by (23.6%) in the third trimester. The result also indicates that there is no record of a significant differences when comparing anaemia using hemocue and doing so using the PCV machine among pregnant women (p<0.05). The study indicates that a large population of pregnant women in the study may be at risk of malaria, hypoglycaemia and anaemia related problems associated with child bearing. This underscores the need for integrated prevention and morbidity in pregnant women.

Key wards: - Malaria, Pregnancy, Hypoglycaemia, Anaemia