Knowledge of self-care intervention on sexual and reproductive health and its associated factors among women in internally displaced persons camps of North Central Nigeria

Background This study assessed individual and household characteristics associated with knowledge and use of self-care practices, including condom use to prevent pregnancies, test blood pressure, use emergency contraception, and pregnancy test among women in IDP camps in FCT Abuja and Benue State. There is limited information on the knowledge and use of self-care practices for women in displaced populations and increased adverse maternal and child health outcomes in this context. Methods This was a cross-sectional study which used a quantitative approach. We purposively selected IDP camps in Abuja and Benue State as the main IDP camps for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and farmers-herders crises in the northern parts of Nigeria. A systematic random sampling was used to select women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in this study. The sample size was 842. Data collection was collected through a survey and an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS statistical software through frequency distribution, Chi-square statistical test and binary logistic regression model. Results More than three-quarters of the respondents knew about self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health interventions, with 44% self-testing for pregnancy, 77% for use of condom for preventing STI/HIV, and 17% for emergency contraception. The results showed that individual and household characteristics were associated with the different self-care practices for SRH needs. At the multivariable analysis, the results indicated that age of respondents (aOR=0.52; CI=0.28-0.99), Islamic religion (aOR=2.42, CI: 1.69-3.45), unemployed women (aOR=10.95, CI: 2.33-51.63), and at the household level, women whose husbands’ earnings were less than #35,000 were significantly associated with self-care practices for SRH needs (aOR=2.62; CI:1.59-4.32). Conclusion The study revealed that self-care practices of women in IDP camps in northern Nigeria were influenced by their individual and household socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Although, women who lived in the IDP camp knew about self-care intervention but very few knew about self-testing for pregnancies. It is therefore recommended that people who live in the IDPs should be educated on pregnant self-testing to meet their sexual reproductive health needs.