Browsing by Author "Ngowi, Agatha F."

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    Determinants of focused antenatal care utilization among women in Simiyu region Tanzania
    (Sage Publication, 2023) Ngowi, Agatha F.; Mkuwa, Serafina; Shirima, Laura; Ngalesoni, Frida; Frumence, Gasto
    Antenatal care (ANC) is a critical period for promoting the health of both mothers and babies. ANC visit is a key entry point for a pregnant woman to the health care system to receive health intervention. The new World Health Organization (WHO) guideline recommends eight ANC contacts. However, the coverage of at least four ANC visits is still low in the Simiyu region. To assess determinants of focused ANC visits utilization among women in the Simiyu Region Tanzania. The study employed a cross-sectional study among women of reproductive age. Data was collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using Stata version 15. Data were summarized using mean and standard deviation for continuous variables while frequency and percentage were used for categorical variables. A generalized linear model, Poisson family, with a log link was used to identify determinants of focused ANC utilization. All 785 women analyzed reported having at least one ANC visit, with 259 (34%) having four or more visits and only 40 (5.1%) having eight or more visits. Women who made a self-decision were 30% less likely to complete four and more ANC visits than their counterparts (APR = 0.70; 95%CI = 0.501–0.978). Women who visited the dispensary were 27% less likely to complete four ANC visits than those who visited health centers (APR = 0.73; 95%CI = 0.540–0.982). However, education level and planned pregnancy were both marginally significantly associated with focused ANC utilisation. Generally, the majority of pregnant women in the Simiyu region do not adequately utilize four and more ANC visits. There is a need to enhance health education to women and their spouses on the importance of attending four or more visits and improving the quality of maternal health services to facilitate the utilization of ANC among women in the study area.
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    Effect of nutritional education intervention to reduce anaemia during pregnancy in Dodoma City, Tanzania: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
    (Oxford Academic, 2021) Munyogwa, Mariam J.; Gibore, Nyasiro S.; Ngowi, Agatha F.; Mwampagatwa, Ipyana H.
    The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of community-based nutritional intervention in reducing the burden of anaemia during pregnancy. Study design will be a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Study setting will be peri-urban wards of Dodoma City. The study will have two arms (the interventional and the control arms). A total of 400 pregnant women at second trimester will be recruited. The study will consist of four phases in four months for both the interventional and the control arms namely: baseline, first and second follow-up and end-line surveys. During each phase, participants from both arms will be measured for haemoglobin concentration and assessed for gestational age, dietary practices and knowledge about anaemia. Furthermore, all participants will receive iron and folic acid supplements, sulphadoxinepyrimethamine and mebendazole tablets throughout the entire period of the study. Nutritional education will be provided to the interventional arm only during each phase. Main outcomes of the study will be changes in haemoglobin concentration, nutritional knowledge and dietary practices at each phase after the baseline survey in the interventional compared to the control arm. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the participants. Independent and paired t-tests will be performed to make comparisons between and within groups. P-values less than 0.05 will be considered statistically significant.
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    Healthcare providers’ perceptions of cross-border healthcare services utilization: a qualitative inquiry in the Tanzania-Uganda borderlands
    (Bio Accent, 2018) Kamazima, Switbert R.; Ngowi, Agatha F.; Mosha, Idda H.; Meta, Emmy
    Available literature on cross-border healthcare services utilization focuses on borders outside the African continent and on the healthcare seekers’ experiences. As such, there is limited understanding of this phenomenon along and across African borders and from the healthcare providers’ perspectives. We conducted a qualitative study in the Tanzania-Uganda borderlands to understand healthcare providers’ perceptions of cross-border healthcare utilization behavior and practices. Findings indicated healthcare providers have been caring for clients from across the border and face different challenges including inhouse and professional standards, policy, laws and treatment guidelines dilemmas. However, healthcare providers have established different ways to minimize the impacts of these challenges. It is concluded border-crossing for healthcare services utilization will increase challenging traditional understanding of public health as state-conined and an important agenda on international health policy debates. It is recommended conduction further multidisciplinary research on cross border healthcare services utilization-related issues to inform efficacious and border regions-friendly health initiatives in Africa.
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    Prevalence and obstetric factors associated with anaemia among pregnant women, attending antenatal care in Unguja island, Tanzania
    (Medip Academy, 2019) Ali, Mwanaisha M.; Ngowi, Agatha F.; Gibore, Nyasiro S.
    Background: Anaemia in pregnancy remains a major health problem with adverse maternal and fetal outcome worldwide, especially in developing countries such as Tanzania. The study aimed to establish prevalence and obstetric factors associated with anaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care visits in Unguja Island, Tanzania. Methods:This cross sectional survey used systemic random sampling in three hospitals of Unguja Island to select 388 pregnant women. Demographic and obstetric characteristics of respondents were collected using a structured questionnaire. Hemoglobin levels were measured by using Hemocue machine. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out in SPSS version 21.0 to measure obstetric factors associated with anaemia among pregnant women. Results:The overall prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women was 80.8%, whereby 68.64% of respondents had mild anaemia, 11.24% had moderate anaemia and 0.89% had severe anaemia. The factors associated with anaemia in pregnancy were gravidity, (AOR= 1.185, 95% CI=0.317-4.338, p<0.001), irregular taking of iron tablets (AOR=0.288, 95% CI=0.149-0.556, p<0.001) and age of the child <2 years, (AOR 3.635, 95% CI= 1.103-11.882, p<0.034). Conclusions:The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women in Unguja is high. Timely and regular intake of iron tablets during pregnancy, child spacing as well as having children within the capacity of parents to raise them up may significantly reduce the prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy. Therefore health education on family planning and the importance of taking of iron tablet is critical.