Extent of use of orthodox and traditional treatments and preventive measures against malaria among rural dwellers in Abia State

Abstract

The study assessed the extent of use of the orthodox and traditional treatment preventive measures against malaria among rural dwellers in Abia State. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire from 180 respondents via multi- stage procedure. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics analysis. About 78% and 95.6% of the respondents were married and literates respectively. A mean age of 46 years, a mean monthly income of about ₦24,227.78 and a mean household size of about 5 persons respectively were recorded by the respondents. The result further revealed that the respondents employed different types of malaria treatment practices (100% of the respondents employed orthodox practices and 11.78% employed traditional practices).The extent of adoption of malaria preventive measures was low ( X= 2.2) and only about 45.4% of the respondents had a good knowledge level in the use of orthodox malaria treatment practices . The result equally revealed low (X= 1.78) attitudinal level by the respondents towards the use of orthodox malaria treatment practices. It equally, revealed a low (X= 1.98) practice level and gave the Relative Credibility Index (RCI) of the respondents over the use of traditional methods of controlling malaria as (RCI = 2.9). The study concludes that the respondents in the study area had a low Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) level over the use of orthodox malaria treatment practices. Therefore, the study recommends more awareness campaign by the health workers mostly in the rural areas in order to increase the KAP level of the rural dwellers in the use of orthodox malaria treatment practices as this will enormously reduce the devastating effects of malaria sickness in Nigeria and mostly in the study area,

Keywords: Malaria Treatments, Orthodox, Traditional and Abia State