Prevalence of Pica amongst Pregnant Women attending Antenatal Clinic of a Tertiary Clinic in South-East, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND:The eating of non-food substances during pregnancy is called pica. It is commonly practised by pregnant women worldwide, including in Nigeria, and has been reported to have a mixed impact on their health. AIM:This study sought to determine the prevalence of pica amongst pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Anambra State, South East, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS:After obtaining approval from the Ethics And Research Committees in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, a cross-sectional survey of 326 consenting pregnant women who met the eligibility criteria was conducted. They were selected by systematic random sampling from 5th September to 5th of November 2022. Data was obtained by interview-based questionnaires and analyzed using the statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The level of significance for this study was set at P < 0.05 for all analyses. RESULTS:The prevalence of pica among this population was 25.8%, and their mean age was 29.3 ± 4.8. The majority identified smell 45 (53.6%) and taste 40 (47.6%) as the reasons for pica practice. Geophagy dominated other forms of pica as white clay was the most consumed item 60 (72.6%). CONCLUSION:This study showed that pica practice was common among pregnant women in this study and geophagy was the dominant form of pica. There is a need to step up health education on the effects of pica in pregnancy.