Community Knowledge, Attitude and Practice About Malaria and Mosquito Biting Behavior in Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Malaria has been the leading cause of mortality for many years in underdeveloped countries like Ethiopia.Community Knowledge of cause and transmission of malaria and mosquito feeding behavior is key to design appropriate health communication strategies for malaria prevention and control. The present study aimed to assess knowledge and awareness on malaria and its association with mosquitoes in Dembele kebele, southeastern, Ethiopia. A community cross sectional study was carried out in Dembele kebele from January to February, 2017. A total of 159 randomly selected individuals were interviewed to assess their KAP about malaria. Data were collected by an interview based structured questionnaire after pre-tested. The collected data were entered in to SPSS for data coding and analysis. Binary logistic regressions analysis was applied and statistical significance test was declared at P-value <0.05 and OR with 95% CI. All respondents had ever heard of malaria and more than 86% of them believed that malaria was one of the most health problem diseases of the community. Most of the respondents (70.4%) were reported mosquito bite as the cause of malaria. The majority (79.2%) and (74.2%) of respondents had good levels of knowledge on transmission and prevention of malaria respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that, knowledge on mode of malaria transmission was positively associated with sex (male) (OR=3.3; CI, 1.27-7.22), age (OR=5.03; CI, 1.03-24.46) and education level (OR=3.30; 95% CI, 1.04-10.50). Among socio-demographic variables, only education level (OR=3.8; CI, 1.51-9.65) was significance factor to knowledge on malaria prevention. The study aimed to assess knowledge and awareness regarding the cause, transmission and preventive measures of malaria; it was found to be high. Use of mosquito net as protective measure against mosquito bites was high in the study area. However, distance of respondent house is near to the mosquito breeding site. Therefore, environmental management and use of other additional preventive methods is very important to reduce prevalence of malaria in study area. Sex, age and education level were strong predictors of knowledge on malaria.

Predictors of patients' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding uncomplicated malaria in the primary healthcare facilities of Plateau state, Nigeria

“…The details of the result showed that male patients were less likely to possess good attitudes on uncomplicated malaria and its management compared to females. Moreover, although the effects on knowledge and practices were insignificant (Table VI), they were in agreement with previous studies conducted in the southern part of Nigeria which indicated the likelihood of females taking better care of their health than their male counterparts [38]; this, however, contrasted with another study conducted in Ethiopia and India, which reported males were more likely to be knowledgeable than females [39, 40]. The positive influence of age on respondents' knowledge on the disease and its management agreed with other studies conducted among community members in Ethiopia which reported age as a factor that influenced respondents' knowledge on malaria and on mosquito-biting behaviours [40].…”

“…Moreover, although the effects on knowledge and practices were insignificant (Table VI), they were in agreement with previous studies conducted in the southern part of Nigeria which indicated the likelihood of females taking better care of their health than their male counterparts [38]; this, however, contrasted with another study conducted in Ethiopia and India, which reported males were more likely to be knowledgeable than females [39, 40]. The positive influence of age on respondents' knowledge on the disease and its management agreed with other studies conducted among community members in Ethiopia which reported age as a factor that influenced respondents' knowledge on malaria and on mosquito-biting behaviours [40]. The education level of the respondents was also a predictor of their knowledge on the disease and its management, and this was consistent with previous studies [40, 41], but in contrast with reports of Das and Ravindran [39].…”

“…The positive influence of age on respondents' knowledge on the disease and its management agreed with other studies conducted among community members in Ethiopia which reported age as a factor that influenced respondents' knowledge on malaria and on mosquito-biting behaviours [40]. The education level of the respondents was also a predictor of their knowledge on the disease and its management, and this was consistent with previous studies [40, 41], but in contrast with reports of Das and Ravindran [39]. Furthermore, the employed had been more likely to exhibit positive attitudes during the management of the ailments, which might be linked to the possible influence of a monthly income.…”

Malaria knowledge and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic of Adis Zemen Hospital, North-western Ethiopia, 2018

“…The required sample size was calculated using single population proportion formula;n = (Zα/2) 2 p(1-p)//d 2 where; n is the required sample size, Z a/2 is the value of standard score at 95% confidence interval, p is the expected proportion of knowledge, and d 2 is marginal error. And the following assumptions were used inorder to calculate the required sample size; 17.7% population proportion of malaria knowledge [25], 95% confidence interval, marginal error of 5% and 5% non-response rate. So the final sample size was 236 and those sampled participants were selected by systematic sampling technique.…”

“…Cross-sectional studies were done in Ethiopia especially in Shahsango [24], Bonke [25], and Tepi [26] to assess knowledge on malaria among pregnant women showed that 74.1%, 16.5%and 17.7% of the respondents had good knowledge respectively. However; different studies reveal that practice of malaria preventive measure and health-seeking behavior of the community are related to the level of knowledge.…”