Prevalence and factors associated with short interpregnancy intervals among Women Attending antenatal care at first-level hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia.

Background: Research has shown that short Interpregnancy Intervals (IPIs) are associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. The aims and objectives of this study was to determine the prevalence of short IPI's and further determine the demographic, sociocultural and health care related factors associated with short IPI's among women of reproductive age in Lusaka, Zambia. Methodology: A cross sectional study involving 218 women aged between 15 and 49 years attending antenatal clinics at selected Hospitals. Eligible participants were recruited using systematic random sampling method and a structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect the data which was later processed using Epi-Data and exported to STATA for analysis. Results: The prevalence of short IPI's was 33.4%. Among the factors associated with short IPI's, it was noted that women aged 35 years or older were 61% (aOR=0.39; 95% CI: 0.21-0.98) less likely to have short IPI's compared to those aged less than 25 years. Furthermore, women from Matero Hospital had 4.89 (95% CI; 2.59-11.6) times higher odds of short IPI's than women from Chawama Hospital. In addition, women who reported having discussed the pregnancy with their partners were 59% (aOR=0.41; 95% CI; 0.31-0.96) less likely to have short IPI's compared to those who did not discuss. For those women who indicated that they did not receive information about recommended IPI's from health care workers, their odds of short IPI's were 4.47% (95% CI; 1.57-12.6) times higher than those who received the information. Conclusion: Raising awareness among women on the recommended birth intervals and encouraging partner participation on when to have the next child may help in efforts to avert the problem of short IPI's and its effect on maternal and perinatal outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]