Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices towards Malaria among Employees from Enterprises in the Town of Douala, Cameroon

Abstract

Background. Malaria remains a public health issue in the world especially in resource-limited countries, where it has a negative impact on their economy. There is a body of recent reports outlining the crucial role of enterprises in control of malaria. The present study aimed at determining the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards malaria among employees from enterprises in the town of Douala, Cameroon. Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive study took place between February 2015 and June 2017 in 14 enterprises of Douala. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to document sociodemographic parameters and KAP of employees. Results. A total of 2705 employees, mainly consisted of males (83.1%), were included in the study. The mean age of respondents was 37.33±9.78 years (range 19-87). Over 90% of respondents knew at least one sign/symptom (94.1%) and associated malaria transmission with mosquito bites (91%). Artemether-Lumefantrine (36.2%), under commercial name “Coartem,” was the most cited antimalarial drug. Nearly 98.2% considered malaria as a dangerous disease. Misconceptions on malaria transmission, causative agent, prevention, and treatment were recorded. More than 77% of employees declared to use mosquito bed nets to prevent malaria. About 63% employees declared going to the hospital when they were feel having malaria while 12.9% were seeking care through street drugs. Educational level, socioprofessional category, area of residence, and enterprise were significantly associated with the level of knowledge on malaria transmission, causative agent, and preventive and treatment practices. Conclusion. This study showed a good level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of employees even though some misconceptions and bad behaviors are still present especially in people with a low level of education. Hence, there is a need to develop strategies for sensitization especially in this fraction of employees. In addition, enterprises could be an interesting approach in order to control malaria in Cameroon.

Unravelling the Perspectives of Day and Night Traders in Selected Markets within a Sub-Saharan African City with a Malaria Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey

“…Knowledge about signs and symptoms of malaria among the respondents in the current study was nonetheless very good, with 96.4% of the night market traders and 97.8% of day traders knowing about malaria symptoms, which is consistent with the findings of Singh et al [ 29 ] in Nigeria, Mbohou et al [ 17 ] in Cameroon, and Owusu et al [ 23 ] in Ghana. Having sound knowledge about signs and symptoms of the disease is helpful to its diagnosis, treatment, and management.…”

“…For example, in Ghana, studies on KAP of malaria among the populace focused on different study groups, highlighting different aspects of malaria KAP, such as those of rural and urban communities [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Others include KAP of insecticide-treated net use in malaria prevention [ 15 , 16 ] and choice of malaria treatment regimens [ 17 , 18 ]. Some researchers also concentrated their studies on KAP of malaria among healthcare workers [ 15 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] and vulnerable groups such as HIV patients [ 23 ].…”

“…Others include KAP of insecticide-treated net use in malaria prevention [ 15 , 16 ] and choice of malaria treatment regimens [ 17 , 18 ]. Some researchers also concentrated their studies on KAP of malaria among healthcare workers [ 15 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] and vulnerable groups such as HIV patients [ 23 ]. Elsewhere, there have been reports on malaria KAP among pregnant women in Ethiopia [ 24 ], tertiary students in Nigeria [ 25 , 26 ], primary school children in Tanzania [ 27 ], and people visiting some referral hospitals in Eritrea [ 28 ].…”

Economic burden and prevalence of malaria in companies in Douala, Cameroon

“…The utilization rate of LLIN was only about 50% in both facilities. These coverage rates was less than 77.23 % reported by Mbohou et al [14] in Douala and lower than the national rate (65.6%) [15]. However, these rates are far from the 80% targeted by the Ministry of Public Health [4].…”

“…Indeed, these authors have demonstrated the positive impact of the use of LLINs on the decrease in the prevalence of malaria, the difference was not signi cant. This could be explained by the fact that at workplace, the e ciency of the LLIN depends on the type of activity of the employees and the activity period of workers [14] .…”