Home Management and Prevention of Malaria among Under-Five Children: Experiences of Mothers in a Nigerian Local Government Area

Abstract

The ravaging effect of malaria on children is of concern due to its high mortality and morbidity rates. This study assessed the practices of mothers of under-five children in home management and prevention of malaria. Multistage random sampling technique was used for selection of 837mothers of under-five. The instruments used were focus group discussion and structured questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data entry and analysis. Each correct answer on knowledge was assigned a score of one (1), while wrong answer got zero (0). The scores were graded as high (60% to 100%), average (40% to 59%) or low (<40%). The items on practices were ranked as always (2), occasional (1) and never (0), they were graded as good- 60% to 100%, fair- 40% to 59% and poor- <40%. The level of knowledge of the respondents on causes, transmission and symptoms of malaria was low, as 75% of them scored less than 40%, 45.2% scored less than 40% in knowledge of prevention, 97.7% scored less than 40% in practices of home management and 63.3% scored <40% in preventive practices. The findings of this study justify and support the need for interventional study to improve the mothers’ experiences in practices of home management and prevention of malaria.

Key-words: Home management; Malaria; Mothers; Prevention; Under-five children