Perceived Health Effects of Traditional Based Therapy of Malaria among Pregnant Women in Rivers East Senatorial District of Rivers State, Nigeria

This study investigated perceived health effects of traditional based therapy of malaria among pregnant women in Rivers East Senatorial District of Rivers State. Utilizing a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design, 107, 938 pregnant women in total were included in the population. The Cochrane formula was used to determine the sample size, which came out to 728. A self-structured questionnaire called the Perceived Health Effects of Traditional-Based Malaria Therapy among Pregnant Women questionnaire (PHET-BMTPWQ) was used as the data collection tool. Utilizing Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), a dependability index of 0.86 was attained. The outcome demonstrated that the grand mean rating of 2.91 SD 1.25 exceeded the criterion mean of 2.5, indicating that traditional malaria treatment had a physical health impact on pregnant women. The grand mean rating of 2.65 SD 0.99 indicated by the results indicates that traditional malaria therapy had an impact on the mental health of pregnant women. Additionally, the grand mean rating of 2.71 SD 1.10 demonstrated that traditional malaria treatment had an impact on pregnant women’s social health. Once more, the study’s results showed F(0.05,727) = 5.054 at 0.002, indicating that pregnant women’s perceptions of the health benefits of traditional malaria treatment varied significantly depending on which trimester they were in. It was determined that pregnant women’s physical, mental, and social health was significantly impacted by the use of traditional based therapy for malaria. Thus, among other things, it was suggested that the Ministry of Health run a program on health intervention regarding the risks associated with taking conventional therapy while pregnant.