Preeclampsia prevention: a survey study on knowledge and practice among prenatal care providers in Ethiopia

Knowledge and practice gaps among providers have been cited as factors behind the underuse of aspirin for preeclampsia prevention globally.

This study aimed to determine the knowledge and practice levels of prenatal care providers at a national tertiary referral hospital in Ethiopia and its catchment health institutions.

This was a cross-sectional survey on the knowledge and practice of preeclampsia prevention through aspirin prophylaxis among prenatal care providers at St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College (Ethiopia) and its catchment health institutions. Data were collected prospectively using a structured questionnaire on ODK (Get ODK Inc, San Diego, CA). The primary objective of our study was to determine the knowledge and practice levels among prenatal care providers. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 23; IBM, Chicago, IL). Simple descriptive analyses were performed to analyze the data. Proportions and percentages were used to present the results.

A total of 92 prenatal care providers working at 17 health institutions were approached, and 80 of them agreed to participate in the study, constituting a response rate of 87%. The mean scores of knowledge and practice of preeclampsia prevention using aspirin were 42.90 (±0.13) and 45.8 (±0.07), respectively. Most of the providers had poor knowledge (score of <50%) and poor practice (score of <50%). Among the 80 prenatal care providers, only 19 (23.8%) had good knowledge, and only 29 (36.3%) had good practice. More than half of the respondents (49/80 [61.3%]) mentioned "lack of national guidelines for use of aspirin in pregnancy" as the main factor that affected their practice of aspirin prophylaxis for preeclampsia prevention in pregnant women. Among the resources used as a reference for the practice of aspirin prophylaxis for preeclampsia prevention, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics or World Health Organization guidelines (45/80 [56.3%]) were the most frequently used resources, followed by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines (36/80 [45.0%]) and clinical judgment (36/80 [45.0%]).

Our results support previous reports of significant knowledge-to-practice gaps in the use of aspirin prophylaxis for preeclampsia prevention among prenatal care providers. Moreover, the results underscore the need for immediate action in narrowing this gap among providers by availing practical national guidelines for preeclampsia prevention and in-service trainings.