Malaria and anti-malarial drugs utilisation among adults in a rural coastal community of Tanzania: knowledge, attitude and practice study

Abstract

Objective: To study malaria and examine determinants of anti-malarial drugs utilization among adults with regard to knowledge, attitudes and practices that may influence patterns of health seeking behaviour. Design: A community based cross-sectional study carried out between December 2001 and January 2002. Setting: A rural area of Mkuranga District in Coastal Region of Tanzania. Subjects: A total of four hundred (400) adults composed of one hundred sixty three adult males
and two hundred thirty seven adult females were interviewed. Results: Prevalence of self-medication was found to be 44.2%, males being significantly more likely to take anti-malarial drugs without medical advice than females (52.2% vs. 38%). The level of education was found to be associated with pattern of self-medication. As regards to knowledge on malaria, only 36.8% of the respondents were knowledgeable, women being more knowledgeable than their counterpart males (38.8% vs. 33.7%). Knowledge of malaria was significantly found to increase with advancing level of education among respondents. About two thirds of the subjects considered themselves as being at risk of malaria infection. Other factors associated with selfmedication against malaria and knowledge on malaria are discussed in this paper. Conclusion: Prevalence of self-medication is still quite high and most people lack adequate knowledge on malaria. The individual’s chronological age, level of formal education and occupation are determinants of the knowledge on malaria while gender, level of formal education and
individual’s occupation are factors that influence self-medication.