Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public health facilities in Lalo Kile district, Oromia, Western Ethiopia

Abstract Objective : This study aimed to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public health facilities in Lalo Kile district, Oromia, Western Ethiopia. Results : Out of the 315 respondents, the mean age was 24.7 ± 2.54 year ranging between 15-44 years. Majority of the respondents were Oromo in ethnicity (90.2%) and protestant in religion (83.2%) and almost all (99%) of the study participants were married. Regarding educational level, two hundred twenty-six (72%) of pregnant women were attended at least primary school and two hundred forty-six (78.1%) of the respondents were from farmer households. About half of the households (51.7%) had a monthly income of greater than 1000 ETB. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection was 43.8 %( 138/315) with the predominance of hookworm (33.7%) followed by Ascaris lumbricoides (7.3%). Being a farmer (AOR, 7.3; 95% CI: 1.46, 37.00), walking barefooted (AOR, 6.13; 95% CI: 1.98, 19.00) and absence of handwashing with soap and water after latrine (AOR, 5.36; 95% CI: 1.78, 16.00) were significantly associated with occurrence of the intestinal parasitic infection with p-value < 0.05. Keywords : Prevalence, Intestinal parasitic infection, pregnant women, Lalo Kile district