Abstract:
The problem of malaria in adolescence has been surpassed by the immense burden of malaria in
children, most especially less than 5. A substantial amount of work done on malaria in pregnancy
in endemic regions has not properly considered the adolescence. The present study therefore
aimed at evaluating the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and anaemia infection in
adolescent pregnant girls in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, Ghana. The study was carried out
at four hospitals in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of the western region of Ghana from
January 2010 to October 2010. Structured questionnaires were administered to the consenting
pregnant women during their antenatal care visits. Information on education, age, gravidae,
occupation and socio-demographic characteristics were recorded. Venous bloods were screened
for malaria using RAPID response antibody kit and Geimsa staining while haemoglobin
estimations were done by cyanmethemoglobin method. The results revealed that adolescent
pregnant girls were more likely to have malaria infection than the adult pregnant women (34.6%
verse 21.3%, adjusted OR 1.65, 95% CI, 1.03-2.65, P = 0.039). In addition, adolescent pregnant
girls had higher odds of anaemia than their adult pregnant women equivalent (43.9% versus
33.2%; adjusted OR 1.63, 95% CI, 1.01-2.62, P = 0.046). Taken together, these data suggest that
adolescent pregnant girls were more likely to have malaria and anaemia compared to their adult
pregnant counterpart. Results from this study shows that proactive adolescent friendly policies
and control programmes for malaria and anaemia are needed in this region in order to protect this
vulnerable group of pregnant women.
