Substance Use And Associated Factors Among Women Who Delivered Low Birth Weight Newborns In Gandhi Memorial And Kadisko General Hospitals

Abstract

Background Alcohol, cigarettes, and “Khat” during pregnancy can have negative health consequences for the fetus. The use of substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and “Khat” during pregnancy can result in various complications and the death of newly born infants. In developing countries such as Ethiopia, low birth weight is a significant public health issue. Low birth weight is linked to an increased risk of early neonatal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The most common causes of low birth weight are associated with maternal risk factors. Maternal malnutrition, anemia, substance abuse, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, for example, are all linked to low birth weight. Objective The objective of this study is to investigate the association between substance use and associated factors among low birth weighted women in Gandhi memorial public Hospital and Kadisco general private Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2021, as well as the effect of excessive caffeine consumption of more than 300 mg per day on the duration of pregnancy and the condition of the newborn (Jarosz, Wierzejska, & Siuba, 2012), Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2021 among 204 women who gave birth at Kadisco Private Hospital and Gandhi Memorial Public Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study participants were chosen using a systematic random sampling technique. Pretested structured questionnaires were used to collect data. The data was entered into Jamovi version 2.2.5, and descriptive statistics were performed using frequency and percentage; the association of substance use compared with women who delivered LBW babies were calculated by Pearson’s Chi-square analysis or Fisher’s Exact test,and, the factors associated with substance use and socio-demographic characteristics of the women who delivered LBW babies were examined using binomial logistic regressions with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and the level of significance were identified by p-value. Results In this study, the variables that showed a significant relation with substance use were age, gestational hypertension, education status, religion, and weight gained during pregnancy. Cigarette smoking was significantly associated with educational status and the incidence of smoking was high among those with higher levels of education compared to those unable to read or write (OR:32.9 95% CI=4.05-262.2) with p=0.001; furthermore the odds of khat chewing were six times higher among mothers with no weight gain during pregnancy compared to mothers who gained weight. (OR=6.73; 95% CI:2.105-21.51, p=0.001) Regarding religion, Muslim mothers with LBW infants were exposed to khat chewing as high as 6.5 times ( OR=6.55; 95%CI:1.21-33.45, p=0.024) X than those following other religions. Mothers belonging to the 25–30 age group had a 2.5 times higher chance of khat chewing and had LBW infants (OR=2.531 95% CI=1.371-4.670, P=0.003). Mothers with gestational hypertension had a 3.1 times higher chance of chewing khat resulting in low birth weight infant (OR= 3.11 (95% CI=1.440-6.730, P= 0.004. Conclusion Substance use during pregnancy is still a significant public health issue worldwide because it can lead to various adverse neonatal outcomes (Fetene et al., 2021). According to the finding of this study, 42.4% of women used substance (cigarette, khat, alcohol, or shisha) on an occasional, weekly, monthly, or daily basis. Finally, mothers in the young age group with low education, gestational hypertension, and marital status had a higher chance of having LBW infants due to khat chewing practices during pregnancy. Thus, it is necessary to provide information on the importance of not using khat or other substances during pregnancy to reduce the prevalence of LBW infants