Zika Virus Knowledge: A Study of Pregnant Women Attending the Antenatal Clinic at a Local Health Center in Trinidad and Tobago

BACKGROUND & AIM: The ZIKV is a major public health concern and has the potential to cause a pandemic. Health knowledge is a critical factor in the prevention of the ZIKV. This study aims to ascertain the knowledge levels of the antenatal women attending the antenatal clinic at the Sangre Grande Health Center Trinidad, regarding the ZIKV and its implications as well as to determine the socio-demographic factors that influence their knowledge.

MATERIAL & METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted. 69 pregnant women were randomly selected from registers of attendance at the clinic on days of data collection. The researchers-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was utilized for data collection. Using the SPSS version 20, results were presented as frequencies.

RESULTS: Most of the participants (98.6%) were of the reproductive age, 18 to 40 years and mainly of mixed ethnicity. The majority of the population had secondary school education and mostly married or in common law relationships. Knowledge of the ZIKV was mostly adjudged moderate; the majority had low knowledge on the implications of the ZIKV. A weak positive correlation (p≤ 0.05) was noted between the educational levels of the participants and their knowledge of the ZIKV as well as between ages of the participants and their levels of knowledge of the implications of ZIKV (p≤ 0.050).

CONCLUSION: The study showed that the pregnant women had moderate knowledge levels of Zika but not a corresponding knowledge on the implications of the conditions. Healthcare geared at increasing the knowledge level of ZIKV and its implications among the populace is recommended. The development of health education and health promotion programs that target disease prevention and control are principal components necessary for success against the ZIKV and its implications.