Knowledge of Malaria and Its Association with Malaria-Related Behaviors—Results from the Malaria Indicator Survey, Ethiopia, 2007

Abstract

BackgroundIn 2005, the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia launched a major effort to distribute over 20 million long-lasting insecticidal nets, provide universal access to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs), and train 30,000 village-based health extension workers.Methods and FindingsA cross-sectional, nationally representative Malaria Indicator Survey was conducted during the malaria transmission season in 2007. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the effect of women's malaria knowledge on household ITN ownership and women's ITN use. In addition, we investigated the effect of mothers' malaria knowledge on their children under 5 years of age's (U5) ITN use and their access to fever treatment on behalf of their child U5. Malaria knowledge was based on a composite index about the causes, symptoms, danger signs and prevention of malaria. Approximately 67% of women (n = 5,949) and mothers of children U5 (n = 3,447) reported some knowledge of malaria. Women's knowledge of malaria was significantly associated with household ITN ownership (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6–2.7) and with increased ITN use for themselves (aOR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.3–2.5). Knowledge of malaria amongst mothers of children U5 was associated with ITN use for their children U5 (aOR = 1.6; 95% CI 1.1–2.4), but not significantly associated with their children U5 seeking care for a fever. School attendance was a significant factor in women's ITN use (aOR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.1–3.9), their children U5′s ITN use (aOR = 4.4; 95% CI 1.6–12.1), and their children U5 having sought treatment for a fever (aOR = 6.5; 95% CI 1.9–22.9).ConclusionsAlong with mass free distribution of ITNs and universal access to ACTs, delivery of targeted malaria educational information to women could improve ITN ownership and use. Efforts to control malaria could be influenced by progress towards broader goals of improving access to education, especially for women.

Caregivers’ Malaria Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes, and Related Factors in the Bata District, Equatorial Guinea

“…It becomes necessary to educate households, and all actors involved in malaria treatment, about the risks linked with this long treatment [39]. Improving the quantity and quality of this message could have a large impact on children receiving effective ACTs [25]. …”

“…As commonly found in this region, Bata caregivers have received pertinent information about malaria from a health facility or family member more frequently, and less frequently from mass media [2,11,25]. Accordingly, the burden of health care provision falls on health facilities and workers, who should be supported in disseminating accurate and reliable information.…”

“…However, the low number of households that had received any information or advice related to malaria in either area is a concern that should be addressed, especially for those households most at risk. Home education has been shown to be valuable in terms of malaria management [25] but in Bata district only few rural caregivers mentioned to have received information from the existing community health workers.…”

PGMS: A Case Study of Collecting PDA-Based Geo-Tagged Malaria-Related Survey Data

“…It is instead marked as invalid by means of setting its Expired field as “Y.” Similar to the edit operation, deleting a record does not remove the record from the PDA physically, but just marks the record as invalid by filling in Expired with “Y.” Therefore, although the interviewer thinks he/she has deleted the record, it is actually still on the PDA and only becomes invisible to the interviewer. The Expired construct was inspired by Anatoly S. Frolov's method used in an electronic MIS questionnaire developed by Visual Studio.NET Compact Framework at the CDC+ 11–13…”

Caregivers’ perception of malaria and treatment-seeking behaviour for under five children in Mandura District, West Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

“…Malaria treatment-seeking behaviour in under five children has been reported to be associated with socio-economic, demographic and personal factors [16–19]. However, there are limited studies pertaining to perceptions about malaria, treatment-seeking for under five children and associated factors at community level in Ethiopia.…”