Investigation on malaria rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) - related knowledge, attitude and practice in primary healthcare professionals of Jiangsu Province

Abstract

To investigate the malaria rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) - related knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) of primary healthcare professionals in Jiangsu Province and analyze the corresponding influencing factors. Four cities in Jiangsu Province were selected as the study sites by the typical sampling method to conduct a survey for the RDT related KAP and work satisfaction of primary healthcare professionals, and the multiple logistic regression model was used to explore the relevant influencing factors. Totally 1 150 questionnaires were issued and 949 valid questionnaires were collected with the recovery rate of 82.52%. The valid questionnaires included 453 questionnaires from laboratory technicians, 466 from clinicians, and 30 from malaria prevention and control workers. Totally 83.98% of the surveyed professionals had a low mastering level of essential RDT-related knowledge. A total of 52.17% of the surveyed laboratory technicians recognized that the application of RDT technology could effectively improve the current primary-level microscopy work, and the degree of recognition of RDT technological advantage in the laboratory technicians was higher than that in the clinicians. Totally 79.25% of the surveyed laboratory technicians regarded themselves to be capable of conducting the standardized RDT operation, and 84.55% of the surveyed clinicians regarded themselves to be capable of conducting the qualified malaria clinical diagnostic practice. The key influencing factors of RDT-related KAP of primary healthcare professionals included the laboratory technicians' gender, educational level, employer's institutional level, professional title, and working years, and the employer's institutional level of clinicians. The primary healthcare professionals in Jiangsu Province exhibita good acceptability towards RDT technology. However, their essential knowledge on RDT remains to be improved. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a specific training and educational system for primary healthcare professionals to better guarantee the advantageous impact of RDT technology on the consolidation of the malaria elimination work achievements.