Socio-demographic and behavioural correlates of the malaria prevention methods utilised by families of under-five children diagnosed with malaria at Baptist Medical Centre, Saki

Abstract

Background: Malaria; a preventable disease is the 3rd leading cause of death for children under five years worldwide, after pneumonia and diarrheal disease. Malaria is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a broad band around the equator, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It inflicts significant costs on households and on the economy of malaria endemic countries. However, little information is available on malaria prevention practices, their determinant and behavioural correlates especially among under-five children in Nigeria. Hence, this study aimed to determine the socio-demographic and behavioural correlates of malaria prevention methods utilised by families of under-five children diagnosed with malaria at Baptist Medical Centre, Saki, by identifying the malaria prevention methods utilised among the study population, evaluate the use of malaria prevention methods among the study population, evaluate the relationship between socio-demographic factors and the use of malaria prevention methods and finally, to determine the behavioural correlates of the use of malaria prevention methods among the study population.

Methods: Four hundred and six children aged 6-59 months and their mothers/caregivers from Saki and its environs, attending clinic at Baptist Medical Centre, Saki were recruited into the descriptive cross-sectional hospital based study through a systematic random sampling between July 2014 and November 2014. Data was collected using interviewer administered questionnaire and clinical evaluation. The diagnosis of malaria was based on malaria microscopy examination according to WHO recommendation. The data was analyzed using SPSS 15.0.1 Statistical package.

Results: The male to female ratio was 1.18:1. Mothers were the primary care-giver of these subjects; accounting for 79.3%. Of the total subjects, 22.4% were from polygamous settings while the remaining percentages were from monogamous settings. Majority of the fathers and mothers, 37.4% and 33.3% respectively had tertiary education. Trading was the major occupation of parents. Majority of the respondents (43.8%) lived in flats, 68.5% and 76.6% had window and door nets respectively. Two hundred and ninety one (71.7%) of the respondents lived in a well cleared environment. Largest percentages of the respondents belong to social class 3. The commonest symptoms presented by the subjects were fever alone and fever with one other symptom. About one-third of the respondents had no idea about the symptom causation and nearly the same proportion attributed it to mosquito bites. More than half of the respondents gave drugs to their children before presenting in the hospital and 23.9% did nothing. The commonly employed strategy for preventing children from having malaria was netting of windows and doorways. Majority of the respondents (60.8%) believe malaria can be prevented. About 90% of the respondents were aware of netting of windows and doors as a method of preventing malaria and almost the same proportion utilized window and door nets for malaria prevention. With binary logistic regression analysis, mother's education level, mother's occupation and father's monthly income were the significant predictors of use of some recommended malaria control methods among the study population.

Conclusion: This study has unveiled the various malaria prevention methods utilised by mothers of under-five children diagnosed with malaria at Baptist Medical Centre, Saki. Family's behavioural perspectives on the child's illness vis-a-vis family assessment of symptoms causation and initial intervention instituted were also explored. The utilization/practice of malaria preventive methods in the study population was strongly associated with mothers' education, mothers' occupation and fathers' income. It is therefore important that the family physician should health educate the parents of under-five children on available malaria preventive measures.

Keywords: Malaria prevention, socio-demographic, behavioural correlates, under-five, Family physician