KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HOME MANAGEMENT OF MALARIA AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER-FIVES ATTENDING HADEJIA GENERAL HOSPITAL, JIGAWA STATE

KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HOME MANAGEMENT OF MALARIA AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER-FIVES ATTENDING HADEJIA GENERAL HOSPITAL JIGAWA STATE

Background:

One of the key interventions proposed under the Roll back malaria initiative is improvement of case management of malaria at the home and community levels to reduce malaria burden. Objective: The objective of the study is to ascertain mother‘s knowledge and practice regarding home management of malaria fever in under five children in Hadejia town, Jigawa State. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted in 2011. A systematic sampling method was used to select the 350 respondents. A respondent who had at least one living child under 5years old was included in the study. Data was collected using interviewer administered questionnaires and analyzed with SPSS version 20.0. Result: Majority of the respondents were between the age of 18-40yrs. Less than One fifth (17.1%) of the respondents have correct knowledge of the causation of malaria and 71% have correct knowledge of the prevention of malaria. Forty two percent of the respondents used one or more of the five treatment modalities. The commonest treatment practice by respondents for their young children with malaria was taking them to health centers (39.8%) followed by home treatment with antimalarial drugs (17.1%). Only 31.4% of the children were treated with artemisinin combine therapy. Conclusion: The findings of this study have shown that knowledge of mothers on treatment of malaria as well as practices of preventive measures is low. Artemisinin combine therapy is not widely used as the treatment for perceived malaria at home. Key words: Malaria, children, mothers, treatment, prevention.

KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF HOME MANAGEMENT OF MALARIA AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER-FIVES ATTENDING HADEJIA GENERAL HOSPITAL JIGAWA STATE