SUBSTANCE USE AND ITS DETERMINANTS AMONG ANTENATAL CARE ATTENDEES IN UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE.

Substance use during pregnancy is a serious public health issue because its usage has negative effects on maternal and child health. This study assessed substance usage and its determinants among Antenatal Care (ANC) attendees in University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin-City, Edo State with the aim of instituting preventive measures. An analytical cross-sectional study involving 364 ANC attendees. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection while data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS version 25.0 with results presented as prose, tables and charts. Statistical significance was set at p- valve of < 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. The mean age of the respondents was 30.0 ± 5.5 years. The life time and recent prevalence of substance use among ANC attendees studied was 157(43.1%) and 75(47.8%) respectively. In relation to substances used by respondents 107(68.2%), 56(35.7%), 48(30.6%) reported alcohol, tramadol and Agbo respectively with the least reported as 4(2.5%) for cigarettes and marijuana respectively. Reasons given for substance use were to relieve stress 265(72.8%), pain 265(72.8%), pregnancy related symptoms 240(65.9%), with the least 117(32.1%) been used for chronic illness. In relation to factors influencing substance use, attitude towards substance use was the significant factor identified (p = 0.002). Substance use was very common among study respondents, there is therefore need to institute health education sessions on substance use during antenatal care visits to help reinforce appropriate behavioral changes to help address issues surrounding substance use during pregnancy.