Abstract
Background Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. It is a leading cause of suffering, death, and socioeconomic problem, especially in many developing countries like Ethiopia. To introduce appropriate preventive and control measures, assessment of community's levels of knowledge, attitude, and preventative practices regarding malaria is crucial. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards malaria and its preventive and control methods among people attending Mekaneeyesus primary hospital, South Gondar, northwestern Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2017 to April 2018. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics and KAP of 390 randomly selected individuals. The data collecting tool was pretested before commencing the actual data collection. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 21 software. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results The overall prevalence rate of malaria in the study area was 8.5%. Nearly two-third of the participants had good knowledge (63.1%) and positive attitude (62.6%) scores towards malaria while only half of the participants had (50.8%) good practice score towards malaria prevention and control measures. Sex, age category, family monthly income, residence, and occupational and educational status of the participants were significantly associated with knowledge and practice scores (P < 0.05). The odds of malaria were 26.93 (CI = 3.67‐197.47, P = 0.001) and 13.09 (CI = 0.93‐183.47, P = 0.036) times higher among individuals who had poor knowledge and poor practice towards malaria, respectively, as compared to individuals who were knowledgeable and had good practice score towards malaria. Conclusion The overall knowledge score, attitude, and practice level of respondents towards malaria was relatively good. However, significant proportion of the participants still have misconception about the cause, sign and symptoms, modes of transmission, and practices towards prevention methods of malaria. Thus, health education which is aimed at raising community's awareness about the disease is necessary to address the gaps identified by this study.
Highlights
Malaria is a serious mosquito borne infectious disease caused by an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite of the genus Plasmodium
P. falciparum and P. vivax account for more than 95% of the cases of malaria worldwide
This study revealed that the majority (325 (83.3%)) of respondents had the practice of utilizing bed net while the remaining 65 (16.7%) had no the practice of using insecticide nets (ITNs)
Summary
According to the latest world malaria report, there were an estimated 229 million malaria cases and 409,000 deaths globally in 2019 [2]. And beyond such a huge health consequence, malaria imposes a heavy economic burden on individuals, households, and the entire economy [3]. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards malaria and its preventive and control methods among people attending Mekaneeyesus primary hospital, South Gondar, northwestern Ethiopia. Significant proportion of the participants still have misconception about the cause, sign and symptoms, modes of transmission, and practices towards prevention methods of malaria.
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