Background
Insecticide‐treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are used to prevent malaria transmission. Both interventions use insecticides to kill mosquitoes that bite and rest indoors. Adding IRS to ITNs may improve malaria control simply because two interventions can be better than one. Furthermore, IRS may improve malaria control where ITNs are failing due to insecticide resistance. Pyrethroid insecticides are the predominant class of insecticide used for ITNs, as they are more safe than other insecticide classes when in prolonged contact with human skin. While many mosquito populations have developed some resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, a wider range of insecticides can be used for IRS. This review is an update of the previous Cochrane 2019 edition.
Objectives
To summarize the effect on malaria of additionally implementing IRS, using non‐pyrethroid‐like or pyrethroid‐like insecticides, in communities currently using ITNs.
Search methods
We searched the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialized Register; CENTRAL; MEDLINE; and five other databases for records from 1 January 2000 to 8 November 2021, on the basis that ITN programmes did not begin to be implemented as policy before the year 2000.
Selection criteria
We included cluster‐randomized controlled trials (cRCTs), interrupted time series (ITS), or controlled before‐after studies (CBAs) comparing IRS plus ITNs with ITNs alone. We included studies with at least 50% ITN ownership (defined as the proportion of households owning one or more ITN) in both study arms.
Data collection and analysis
Two review authors independently assessed studies for eligibility, analyzed risk of bias, and extracted data. We used risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We stratified by type of insecticide, 'pyrethroid‐like' and 'non‐pyrethroid‐like'; the latter could improve malaria control better than adding IRS insecticides that have the same way of working as the insecticide on ITNs ('pyrethroid‐like'). We used subgroup analysis of ITN usage in the studies to explore heterogeneity. We assessed the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach.
Main results
Eight cRCTs (10 comparisons), one CBA, and one ITS study, all conducted since 2008 in sub‐Saharan Africa, met our inclusion criteria. The primary vectors in all sites were mosquitoes belonging to the
Anopheles gambiae s.l.
complex species; five studies in Benin, Mozambique, Ghana, Sudan, and Tanzania also reported the vector
Anopheles funestus
. Five cRCTs and both quasi‐experimental design studies used insecticides with targets different to pyrethroids (two used bendiocarb, three used pirimiphos‐methyl, and one used propoxur. Each of these studies were conducted in areas where the vectors were described as resistant or highly resistant to pyrethroids. Two...