Table 1.
Maternal characteristics in urban and rural area (n = 437)
| Characteristics | Urban (n = 199) |
Rural (n = 238) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years)a | 29.54 (4.76) | 29.19 (5.23) | 0.44 |
| Gestational age at study visit, (weeks)a | 30.46 (5.52) | 30.19 (5.82) | 0.62 |
| Second Trimester (≥20–26 weeks) (%) | 49 (24.62) | 75 (31.51) | 0.11 |
| Third Trimester (≥27 weeks) (%) | 150 (75.38) | 163 (68.49) | |
| Parity (%) | |||
| 0 | 91 (45.7) | 79 (33.2) | 0.01* |
| 1–2 | 57 (28.6) | 70 (29.4) | |
| ≥ 3 | 51 (25.6) | 89 (37.4) | |
| Ethnicity (%) | |||
| Malay | 145 (72.9) | 182 (76.5) | 0.02* |
| Chinese | 26 (13.1) | 12 (5.0) | |
| Indian | 28 (14.1) | 44 (18.5) | |
| Marital Status (%) | |||
| Married | 195 (98) | 237 (99.6) | 0.06 |
| Single/Widowed | 4 (2) | 1 (0.4) | |
| Education Level (%) | |||
| Primary School | 4 (2) | 10 (4.2) | < 0.001* |
| Secondary School | 70 (35.2) | 133 (55.9) | |
| Tertiary School | 125 (62.8) | 95 (39.9) | |
| Monthly Household Income (%)b | |||
| Low (< RM2500) | 58 (29.1) | 143 (60.1) | < 0.001* |
| Middle (RM2500-RM5599) | 105 (52.8) | 77 (32.4) | |
| High (≥ RM5600) | 36 (18.1) | 18 (7.6) | |
| Occupation (%) | |||
| Managers & Professional | 57 (28.6) | 36 (15.1) | < 0.001* |
| Technician, Associate Professional, Clerical, Sales Workers | 79 (39.7) | 59 (24.8) | |
| Agricultural, Forestry, Fishery, Craft Workers, Plant and Machine Operators | 6 (3) | 10 (4.2) | |
| Unemployed | 57 (28.6) | 133 (55.9) | |
aReported in Mean (SD); LMP Last menstrual period, RM Ringgit Malaysia (1 USD = RM4.04);
bBased on the cut-off of 11th Malaysia Plan 2016–2020; * Significance value at p < 0.05