GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of location and educational disposition
on health status of mothers attending antenatal clinic in University of Uyo Teaching Hospital
(UUTH). Two research questions and two hypotheses were postulated. Cross-sectional
research design was adopted. The population consisted of 517 pregnant mothers, who
attended antenatal clinic in UUTH. A sample of 258 pregnant mothers was drawn for the
study using systematic random sampling technique. “Mothers’ Health Status Inventory
(MHSI)” was used for data collection. MHSI was validated by three experts. It was subjected
to reliability test using Cronbach Alpha, and it yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.81. Data
from 258 completed copies of MHSI were used for analysis. Frequencies and percentages
were used to answer research questions, while Chi-square was used to test hypotheses.
Results indicated that equal proportion of mothers from urban (14.9%) and rural (14.9%)
environments had poor health status. The mothers (urban - 27.2%) and rural - 27.7%)
suffered from vomiting, and oedema and itching in nearly equal proportion (urban -21.3%;
rural-21.1%) respectively. In variation, 34.2% of urban mothers suffered fatigue, while
31.1% of rural mothers suffered heartburn. In education groups, 27.3 % of mothers with
OND/NCE and 27.2% with HND and above, and 18.3 % with Secondary school and below
had poor health status. Mothers with OND/NCE suffered mostly from anaemia (72.7%),
diabetes (54.5%) and hypertension (54.5%). Others with HND and above were affected by
heartburn (59.1%), headache (57.3%) and vomiting (53.9%). There was no significant
difference in the health status of mothers attending antenatal clinic in UUTH with respect to
their location. But, significant difference existed in the health status of the mothers with
respect to their educational status. The management of UUTH was advised to offer in-service
training to antenatal care providers to be more effective in the offering of antenatal services
to mothers, particularly the educated ones to enhance their health status.
KEYWORDS: Health Status, Mothers, Antenatal Clinic, Location, Educational
Status, UUTH.