THE SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PREGNANT WOMEN WITH TOXOPLASMOSIS IN AL-QADISIYAH- IRAQ

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Background: Toxoplasma gondii infections are endemic in Iraq and represent a serious problem especially in Al-Qadisiyah province. In the province, the prevalence of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women in 2011 was 60% and mainly among those in the age group of 20-30 years old (68.2%). There are many socio-demographic risk factors for toxoplasmosis. However, there was no recent data describing socio-demographic characteristics of pregnant women with toxoplasmosis.

Objective: The findings in this article is the results of a pilot study which was conducted to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of pregnant women with toxoplasma infection that attended the government maternity hospital in Al-Qadisiyah province, Iraq.

Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional survey was used. Cases were selected randomly; self-administered questionnaire in the Arabic language was used. The analysis was done using SPSS Version 21.

Result: There was 68 respondent in this study. The mean and standard deviation of their age was  23.8± 6.6 years. The majority of them was in the age group of 35-39 years (25%), and most of them have monthly family income of 800,000-899,000 Iraqi Dinar equal to 683,661-768,264 USD, with a mean and s.deviation of 779.04 ± 209.79 Dinar. Most of the respondents have a primary level of education (41.2%), and most of them were housewives (76.5%).  About 52.9% of the respondent live in the urban area.

Conclusion: In this study, most of the pregnant women with toxoplasmosis were in the middle of age, living in the urban area and from the middle-income group (by Iraqi standards). The majority of them have low level of education, and most of them were housewives.

Keywords: Toxoplasmosis, pregnant women, socio-demographic characteristics.