Cultural and Economic factors influencing awareness and knowledge of Rhesus Incompatibility among women of reproductive age in Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the cultural and economic factors affecting knowledge of rhesus incompatibility among women of reproductive age in South-east Nigeria. Rhesus incompatibility is a common factor responsible for perinatal deaths. This paper examines the cultural and economic factors affecting the level of awareness and knowledge of this very important issue. The symbolic interactionist theory was adopted to as the theoretical framework for this study. The study adopted the mixed methods research design involving quantitative and qualitative research methods. The questionnaire served as the instrument for quantitative data collection while the IDI was used to collect qualitative data. A sample size of 1,111 respondents were selected for the study. The respondents were selected based on their knowledge and experience with Rhesus incompatibility related problems. The quantitative data were processed using SPSS and analyzed using simple percentages and frequency tables. The data were cleaned and processed using Nvivo, a tool for qualitative data processing in the social sciences. Analysis was presented in line with the study objectives and themes that were generated in the study. It was found that there is an increased knowledge of Rhesus incompatibility among women of reproductive age in South-east Nigeria. Several factors like education, place of residence, religion and ignorance were identified as the social factors responsible for poor knowledge and action towards Rhesus incompatibility in the study area. The study recommends that efforts should be made to improve the level of knowledge and awareness of Rhesus incompatibility. Also, there should be increased access to education especially for women, to improve their knowledge about the issue of Rhesus incompatibility.