Influence of Socio-demographic Variables on Knowledge of Pregnancy Induced Hypertension among Pregnant Women in Ekiti State Nigeria

Aim: This study was conducted to assess knowledge of pregnancy induced hypertension among pregnant women in Ekiti state and to determine the influence of socio-demographic variables on their knowledge.

Study Design: Descriptive research design was adopted in this study.

Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in selected health facilities within the three senatorial districts in Ekiti State between April and June 2016.

Methodology: Three hundred pregnant women were randomly selected from six health facilities within the three senatorial districts of Ekiti State. Data was collected using an 18-item self-structured questionnaire. Data collected were subjected to analysis using SPSS version 16. Demographics were analysed using frequency counts and percentages while inferential statistics of linear regression was used to determine the influence of socio-demographic variables on knowledge at 0.05 level of significance.

Results: 56.6% of the pregnant women had good knowledge and all the socio-demographic variables tested jointly contributed to the pregnant women’s knowledge (R=.348, R2 = .121, F (4, 295) = 6.85, p < .05). Source of information had the highest contribution on respondents’ knowledge of pregnancy induced hypertension (b = .33, t (295) = 5.46, p < .05).

Conclusion: Health education intervention to improve the knowledge of pregnancy induced hypertension among pregnant women in Ekiti State is required.