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Influence of education and knowledge on perceptions and practices to control malaria in Southeast Nigeria

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.061Get rights and content

Abstract

The study was undertaken in southeastern Nigeria to investigate whether the people's level of education and what they know about malaria affects how they seek treatment and prevention for the disease. Pre-tested questionnaires were used to collect data from randomly selected householders and analysed using logistic regression. Higher levels of education were associated with improved knowledge and practice about the appropriate strategies for the prevention and treatment of malaria. The results thus indicate that education can have a positive impact on the malaria burden and medium/long-term improvement of overall literacy rates. As well as this, short-term health education campaigns about the causes, manifestations and control of malaria will have a positive impact on its control.

Introduction

Many interventions for reducing the burden of malaria and other diseases depend on improved consumers’ knowledge about the disease and its control and this is enhanced by increased educational attainment (Breman, 2001). There is evidence that social structures that undermine individual educational attainment can influence health outcomes, above and beyond the well-known individual socio-economic risk (Ross, Tremblay, & Graham, 2004). Improved malaria control also potentially depends on people who had been exposed to the disease being able to prevent and appropriately seek treatment for it.

Formal education most often teaches basic reading skills, enlightens, and aids in removing some of the cultural ideologies that lead to the misconceptions that affect proper and adequate prevention and treatment of malaria. Formal education in this case refers to western education in a primary, secondary or tertiary institution. In Uganda (Njama et al., 2003), higher levels of formal education for the caregiver were associated with positive malaria-related knowledge, attitude, and practice, while Sirima et al. (2003) showed that mothers were able to recognize and treat malaria in a prompt and correct manner, given appropriate training and adequately packaged drugs.

The study determined whether a person's educational level influences the knowledge he/she has about malaria and how to prevent and treat it. It also examined how the knowledge that people have about malaria influence their actual practices with regards to treatment and prevention of the disease. The findings are important for planning strategies for the control of malaria.

Section snippets

Methods

The study was undertaken in Adu, Ahani, Amaetiti and Enugu–Akwu villages in Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria. Pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from a simple random sample of 300 respondents per village. Information was sought from the respondents on their knowledge of the causes and symptoms of malaria. They were also asked about the different methods of treating and preventing malaria, and whether they had untreated

Respondents’ demographic characteristics

The number of questionnaires analysed were 299, 298, 300 and 300 in Adu, Ahani, Amaetiti and Enugu–Akwu, respectively. Females, married people, middle-aged people and farmers were the majority of the respondents in the four villages. The percentage of people that had formal education was 47.8%, 67.4%, 37% and 48% in Adu, Ahani, Amaetiti and Enugu–Akwu, respectively. The average years of formal education was 3.05 (95% CI 2.58, 3.54) in Adu; 4.16 (95% CI 3.68, 4.65) in Ahani; 2.67 (95% CI 2.21,

Discussion

Educational attainment and knowledge of malaria both play a role in peoples’ perceptions and practice to controlling malaria. This was similar to findings in a study in Tanzania where perceived symptoms was significantly associated with having primary education and above (Tarimo, Lwihula, Minjas, & Bygbjerg, 2000). Education also increased the probability that households would purchase both treated and untreated mosquito nets. Similarly, the identification of mosquitoes as a cause of malaria

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