Prevalence, knowledge and attitude about syphillis infection among pregnant women attending maternal child health clinic at Kasangati Health Centre IV, Wakiso District

Abstract

Syphilis is a major public health problem in sub Saharan Africa associated with morbidity and mortality. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence, attitude and knowledge of syphilis among pregnant women attending maternal child health clinic at KHCIV. A total of 90 pregnant women were selected using systemic sampling. Primary data was obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire and carrying out a laboratory Rapid Plasmin Reagin test. The collected data was sorted, edited, cleaned and later captured in SPSS v. 25 for analysis to obtain descriptive statistics used to interpret results. The study found out syphilis prevalence of 20% where secondary level syphilis was dominant at 55.56% compared to 44.44% for primary level syphilis. Prevalence of syphilis was inclined to age, marital status, family status and religion while education and number of children were not significant. It was further ascertained that 73.33% of the pregnant women were knowledgeable about syphilis, causes, signs and symptoms as well as preventive measures of the disease. Moreover, attitude of syphilis among pregnant women was low. They perceived syphilis as very difficult to prevent (52, 86.4%), they did believe syphilis can be harmful to fetus development (79, 87.78%). There is therefore a high prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women attending maternal child health clinic at KHCIV. The study recommends; early syphilis diagnosis and treatment, engagement in protected sex during pregnancy, and increased sensitization of pregnant women to reduce on prevalence, enhance knowledge and improve attitude towards syphilis.