Abstract:
Background: Use of substance such as alcohol, khat leaves and tobacco have long been
recognized as one of the leading causes of human suffering and become one of the rising major
public health and socioeconomic problem worldwide. There was no studies conducted to
investigate the prevalence and associated factors of substance use among pregnant women in the
study area.
Objective: Toassess the magnitude of substance use and associated factors among pregnant
women attending antenatal care in Jimma Town public health facilities, southwest Ethiopia,
2017.
Methods: Facility based cross sectional study design was conducted among pregnant women in
Jimma Town public health facilities from March 10 to April 10/2017.A systematic random
sampling technique was used to select a total of 296 study participants. Data was collected by
interviewer administered structured questionnaire after pretest was done. The collected data was
cleaned, coded and entered in to Epi data version 3.1 and exported to and analyzed using
SPSSversion 21 statistical package. Multivariate logistic regressions models was fitted to
control the effect of confounding variables. Adjusted Odds ratios calculated with 95%
confidence intervals and α =5% with significant level of P<0.05.
Results: The overall substance use prevalence was found to be 37.9 %.Factors associated with
substance use among pregnant women were education status (being able to read and write) with
(AOR= .091 95% CI: (.014, .574)), respondent’s husband occupational status being others
(AOR=.188 95% CI:(.036, .974)), gestational age being second trimester(AOR= 3.325 95% CI:
(1.298, 8.251)), and pregnant women who didn’t have a family history of substance use(AOR=
.122 95% CI: (.066, .228)).
Conclusion and recommendation: The overall prevalence of substance use among the
pregnant women in this study was high. The study also revealed that educational status,
family history of substance use, occupational status and gestational age were found to be
associated with substance use. Health care providers and concerned bodies have to educate
and counsel pregnant women and families about harmfulness of substance use for minimize
its prevalence and associated factors of substance use.
