The pattern of utilization of insecticide treated nets among Children Emergency Room attendees in a tertiary hospital in Sagamu, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Malaria is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among children in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. The use of preventive measures such as the insecticide-treated nets plays a significant role in malaria control. Objective: To determine the pattern of utilization of insecticide-treated nets among attendees of the Children Emergency Room in a tertiary hospital Methods: It was a cross-sectional, descriptive, hospitalbased study conducted at the Children Emergency Room (CHER) of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria. Results: A total of 75 mother-child pairs were surveyed. The highest educational level of the caregivers was secondary school education for the fathers and mothers respectively. About two-in-five of the children (41.3%) slept under ITN. More of the children in the age category >5 – 10years (61.5%) used ITN. More female children (52.2%) compared with their male counterparts used ITN (p = 0.205). A higher proportion of children whose fathers had no formal education (75.0%) used ITN compared to those whose fathers had formal education (p = 0.019). A higher number of children from the urban area (47.3%) used ITN compared to those from rural area (25.0%) (p = 0.083). Conclusion: The study observed that the utilization of ITNs was relatively high among the study participants, but its utilization was suboptimal compared to the RollBack-Malaria target.