The burden and predictors of late antenatal booking in a rural setting in Ghana.
Charlotte Afful Oduro, Douglas Aninng Opoku, Joseph Osarfo and 7 others
PMID 36330845WHAT IT FOUND
In rural Ghana, many pregnant women booked antenatal care late.
Older age, inadequate knowledge of antenatal care, and partners without formal education were linked to late booking.
Key findings
0144.8% of participants booked their first antenatal care visit after 12 weeks of gestation.
02Adequate knowledge of ANC services was associated with lower odds of late booking (adjusted odds ratio 0.21, 95% CI 0.07-0.62).
03Women aged 35 years and above and women whose partners had no formal education had higher odds of late booking (adjusted odds ratio 8.53 and 3.43 respectively).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in only two rural public facilities in one district, so the findings may not apply to urban or other settings. The questionnaire was developed for the study and not validated, although it was pre-tested. Only 163 of the 194 recruited women completed the questionnaire, and some confidence intervals were wide, especially for maternal age. The study did not report gravidity or parity, so it cannot tell whether older women booked late because of pregnancy experience. A quantitative survey cannot explain the health-system, cultural or household reasons behind late booking.
Declared interests
The authors received no specific funding; the study was solely funded by the authors, and they declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the predictor results as evidence that education or targeting older women will reduce late booking. This was a cross-sectional study without a tested intervention, and some confidence intervals were wide.