Sociodemographic factors influencing adherence to antenatal iron supplementation recommendations among pregnant women in Malawi: Analysis of data from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey

Background and Aim: Maternal morbidity and mortality statistics remain unacceptably high in Malawi. Prominent among the risk factors in the country is anaemia in pregnancy, which generally results from nutritional inadequacy (particularly iron deficiency) and malaria, among other factors. This warrants concerted efforts to increase iron intake among reproductive-age women. This study, among women in Malawi, examined factors determining intake of supplemental iron for at least 90 days during pregnancy. Methods: A weighted sample of 10,750 women (46.7%), from the 23,020 respondents of the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS), were utilized for the study. Univariate, bivariate, and regression techniques were employed. While univariate analysis revealed the percent distributions of all variables, bivariate analysis was used to examine the relationships between individual independent variables and adherence to iron supplementation. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted for categorical variables, with the significance level set at P < 0.05. Two binary logistic regression models were used to evaluate the net effect of independent variables on iron supplementation adherence. Results: Thirty-seven percent of the women adhered to the iron supplementation recommendations during pregnancy. Multivariate analysis indicated that younger age, urban residence, higher education, higher wealth status, and attending antenatal care during the first trimester were significantly associated with increased odds of taking iron supplementation for 90 days or more during pregnancy (P < 0.01). Conclusions: The results indicate low adherence to the World Health Organization’s iron supplementation recommendations among pregnant women in Malawi, and this contributes to negative health outcomes for both mothers and children. Focusing on education interventions that target populations with low rates of iron supplement intake, including campaigns to increase the number of women who attend antenatal care clinics in the first trimester, are recommended to increase adherence to iron supplementation recommendations.

RELIGIOSIDADE E ESTILO DE VIDA DE UMA POPULAÇÃO ADULTA

Objetivo: Caracterizar o perfil de religiosidade e estilo de vida de uma população adulta e analisar a associação entre essas variáveis. Métodos: Pesquisa descritiva, transversal e quantitativa, realizada com participantes (n=206) de duas Feiras de Saúde na cidade de São Paulo, em 20/10/2013 e 04/05/2014. Aplicaram-se dois instrumentos, o Duke University Religion Index (DUREL, subdividido nas dimensões Religiosidade Organizacional, Não Organizacional e Intrínseca) e o Estilo de Vida FANTÁSTICO. Realizaram-se os testes Rho de Spearman para associação das variáveis “estilo de vida” e “religiosidade”, e Qui- Quadrado para análise bivariada entre sexo e religiosidade. Resultados: Encontrou-se perfil de religiosidade predominantemente bom nas três dimensões, com destaque para a Religiosidade Intrínseca, que alcançou 83,5% (n=167) nos três quesitos. Quanto ao estilo de vida (FANTÁSTICO), obteve-se a classificação de: 26,6% (n=34) “Bom”, 48,4% (n=62) “Muito Bom” e 12,5% (n=16) “Excelente”. Das 125 análises bivariadas, 13 (11,3%) apresentaram correlação fraca (ρ< 0,30), porém significativa (p<0,05). Nas associações do Qui-Quadrado, a religiosidade se relacionou às dimensões do estilo de vida quanto ao uso de álcool e drogas, alimentação equilibrada e saúde mental. Conclusão: A religiosidade na população estudada, considerando-se as três dimensões analisadas, caracterizou-se como “boa” e “muito boa”; e o estilo de vida, segundo escore total do questionário FANTÁSTICO, pôde ser considerado saudável. Apesar de fraca, confirmou-se associação entre a religiosidade e o estilo de vida.

PREVALENCE AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF MAMMOGRAPHY AND PAP SMEAR TEST

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with the performance of mammography and pap smear test in women from the city of Maringá, Paraná. Methods: Population-based cross-sectional study conducted with 345 women aged over 20 years in the period from March 2011 to April 2012. An interview was carried out using a questionnaire proposed by the Ministry of Health, which addressed sociodemographic characteristics, risk factors for chronic noncommunicable diseases and issues related to mammographic and pap screening. Data were analyzed using bivariate analysis, crude analysis with odds ratio (OR) and chi-squared test using Epi Info 3.5.1 program; multivariate analysis using logistic regression was performed using the software Statistica 7.1, with a significance level of 5% and a confidence interval of 95%. Results: The mean age of the women was 52.19 (±5.27) years. The majority (56.5%) had from 0 to 8 years of education. Additionally, 84.6% (n=266) of the women underwent pap smear and 74.3% (n=169) underwent mammography. The lower performance of pap smear test was associated with women with 9-11 years of education (p=0.01), and the lower performance of mammography was associated with women without private health insurance (p<0.01). Conclusion: The coverage of mammography and pap smear test was satisfactory among the women from Maringá, Paraná. Low education level and women who depended on the public health system presented lower performance of mammography.