Insecticide treated nets use and its determinants among settlers of Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundEthiopia is rapidly increasing insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) coverage to combat malaria, but adequate follow-up and factors affecting use of ITNs is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess determinants of the use of ITNs in a southwest area of Ethiopia.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Chewaka district settlement area of southwest Oromia from March to May, 2013. Kebeles were stratified by degree of urbanization (rural, peri-urban, or urban). Randomly selected households, which had been freely supplied with at least one ITN, were surveyed using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire administered through household interviews. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between use of ITNs and determinant factors.ResultsOf 574 households surveyed, 72.6 % possessed ITNs and 80 % of these had been used the night before the survey. The most common reasons for the absence ITNs in the household identified in this study were ITNs were old and therefore discarded and that households use ITNs for purposes other than their intended use. The multivariate analysis found that knowledge of malaria transmission by mosquito bites (Adjusted OR = 3.44, 95 % CI: 1.80–6.59), and washing of ITNs at least once by households (Adjusted OR = 2.66, 95 % CI: 1.35–5.26) were significantly associated with an ITN being used by households. The mean possession was 1.59 ITN per household (3.57 persons per an ITN). One hundred fifty four (36.9 %) of ITNs had at least one hole/tear. Among these, 108 (70.1 %) ITNs had at least one hole/tear with greater than 2 cm and 29 (18.8 %) had greater than seven holes/tears.ConclusionsThis study in Southwest Ethiopia showed a high proportion of net ownership compared to a household survey from Ethiopia which included in the World Malaria Report. Despite somewhat high percentages ITN ownership, the study demonstrated there was still a gap between ownership and use of ITNs. Use of ITNs was affected by knowledge of malaria transmission by mosquito bite and washing of ITNs at least once by households. Intensive health education and community mobilization efforts should be employed to attempt to influence these factors that significantly affect ITN use.

Previous Trend, Present Prevalence and Integrated Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Malaria and Use of Insecticide-treated Mosquito Net in the Rural Setting of Welkait District, Northwest Ethiopia

“…In terms of ITNs utilization experience, almost all the households have been using their ITNs at least for one year and above. This finding was in line with the finding elsewhere [38]. Since ITN is not equivalent to LLIN that requires the second time treatment with insecticide [33], however only quarter of them treated their ITNs with insecticide for the second time during long usage experiences.…”

“…Nevertheless, only 67.3% of them used ITNs last night at the time of interview. This finding was higher than similar studies in Raya Azebo and Arsi zone, Ethiopia [20,32] but lower than the report from other settings in Ethiopia [23,36,38]. Whereas, 16.4%…”

“…Interestingly, priority was given to mothers, children and pregnant women in the family to use ITN. This was a common practice of most communities in Ethiopia [32,36,38]. In terms of ITNs utilization experience, almost all the households have been using their ITNs at least for one year and above.…”

Assessment of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Net Utilization and Its Associated Factors Among Households in Adama District, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

“…household ownership) does not necessarily translate to equal increase in utilization. Because, the success of LLIN utilization depends on several factors: such as, willingness of people to use nets, inconvenience to hang the nets, educational background, place of residence, age and gender differences, and color of nets [12,13,14].…”

Primary school students’ poetic malaria messages in Ethiopia: A qualitative content analysis

“…Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) programs, strategies, and activities are emerging elements of effective global direction for eliminating malaria (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Pieces of evidence indicate that approaching SBCC through school is one of the proven effective and e cient means of disseminating information to students and their families.…”