Adherence to malaria case management guidelines in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in Public Health Facilities in Kenya, 2023

Abstract

Objective: To establish the level adherence to malaria treatment guidelines among of health workers in public health facilities in Kenya.

Design Setting: This was a cross-sectional, cluster sample health facility assessment.

Subjects: Health facilities offering outpatient services, health workers deployed there and febrile patients seeking services in those  health facilities at the time the study.

Main outcome: Level of adherence to malaria treatment guidelines in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria.

Results: Overall, 170  health facilities offering outpatient services were recruited in the study, 223 health workers and 567 febrile patients were interviewed. Malaria parasitological diagnosis was provided in 86.5% of the facilities. Majority (77.7%) of the facilities stocked with at least one  ArtemetherLumefantrine pack while 20% experienced total stock. The proportion of health workers exposed to in-service training on  uncomplicated malaria case management, Artesunate use, access to malaria case management guidelines and received any supportive  supervision during 3 months was 23.3%, 64.6%, 55.2% and 46.2%, respectively. Availability of malaria diagnostics and  ArtemetherLumefantrine adherence was 54.5%. The proportion of febrile patents tested for malaria was 93.8% in high malaria risk areas  and 27.6% in low malaria risk areas. The proportion of febrile patents managed in accordance with malaria guidelines was 88.8% in high  malaria risk and 25.8% in low malaria risk areas.

Conclusion: The study indicated that health workers exhibited sub-optimal adherence to  test and treat guidelines for uncomplicated malaria. There is a need to implement strategies aimed at bolstering adherence to  treatment guidelines for uncomplicated malaria among health workers.