Malaria-related perceptions and practices of women with children under the age of five years in rural Ethiopia
Malaria-related perceptions and practices of women with children under the age of five years in rural Ethiopia
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DOI：
10.1186/1471-2458-9-259
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发表时间：
2009-07-23
影响因子：
4.5
通讯作者：
Ali, Ahmed
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Deressa, Wakgari;Ali, Ahmed
背景：疟疾仍然是埃塞俄比亚孕妇和儿童发病和死亡的主要原因。这项研究的目的是调查当地有5岁以下儿童的妇女对疟疾的看法、做法和寻求治疗的行为。方法：这项基于社区的研究于2003年在埃塞俄比亚中南部阿达米图鲁区季节性疟疾传播地区进行。对来自18个农村kebeles（最小的行政单位）的2087名儿童不满5岁的农村妇女进行了访谈，了解她们对疟疾的看法和做法。此外，还对类似问题进行了焦点小组讨论和深度访谈，以补充定量数据。结果：疟疾，当地称为busaa，被认为是研究地区的主要健康问题。蚊子被认为是该疾病的主要原因，其他误解也很普遍。预防措施的使用率非常低。大多数母亲熟悉轻度疟疾的主要体征和症状，其中一些人表现出高烧、抽搐和精神错乱，这是严重疟疾的表现。很少有家庭（5.6%）拥有一个或两个蚊帐。最近发生疟疾的母亲中，60%以上接受了社区卫生工作者（40%）和私营保健提供者（21%）等非公共卫生设施的初步治疗。在报告的妇女疟疾病例中，得到公共卫生设施治疗的不到40%。结论：疟疾被认为是妇女和儿童的主要健康问题。疟疾预防措施的使用率很低。相当大比例的答复者接受了保健员、私人护理提供者和公共卫生设施的疟疾初步治疗。需要作出协调一致的努力，扩大驱虫蚊帐的分发，并提高社区对疟疾和蚊子之间联系的认识。在疟疾问题猖獗的基层，也应该提供有效的抗疟疾药物。
Background: Malaria remains to be the major cause of morbidity and mortality among pregnant women and children in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to investigate the local perceptions, practices and treatment seeking behaviour for malaria among women with children under the age of five years.Methods: This community-based study was conducted in 2003 in an area of seasonal malaria transmission in Adami Tulu District, south-central Ethiopia. Total samples of 2087 rural women with children less than five years of age from 18 rural kebeles (the smallest administrative units) were interviewed about their perceptions and practices regarding malaria. In addition, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted on similar issues to complement the quantitative data.Results: Malaria, locally known as busaa, is perceived as the main health problem in the study area. Mosquitoes are perceived to be the main cause of the disease, and other misperceptions were also widespread. The use of prevention measures was very low. Most mothers were familiar with the main signs and symptoms of mild malaria, and some of them indicated high grade fever, convulsions and mental confusion as a manifestation of severe malaria. Very few households (5.6%) possessed one or two nets. More than 60% of the mothers with recent episodes of malaria received initial treatment from non-public health facilities such as community health workers (CHWs) (40%) and private care providers (21%). Less than 40% of the reported malaria cases among women were treated by public health facilities.Conclusion: Malaria was perceived as the main health problem among women and children. The use of malaria preventive measures was low. A significant proportion of the respondents received initial malaria treatments from CHWs, private care providers and public health facilities. Concerted effort is needed to scale-up the distribution of insecticide-treated nets and improve the knowledge of the community about the link between malaria and mosquitoes. Effective antimalarial drugs should also be available at the grassroots level where the problem of malaria is rampant.