A comparative assessment of the community frontline health workers for their knowledge and practices of malaria diagnosis and treatment in three contiguous districts Mandla, Balaghat, and Dindori of Madhya Pradesh, India

Malaria Journal

Research

S. K. Shrivastava¹  Ramji Bhalavi¹  Brajesh Patel²  R. K. Mehra²  Srinath Singh³  Ram Shankar Sahu³  Himanshu Jayswar⁴  Altaf A. Lal⁵  Harpreet Kaur⁶  Praveen K. Bharti⁷  Ravendra K. Sharma⁸  Kalyan B. Saha⁹  Ashok K. Mishra⁹  Aparup Das⁹  Akansha Singh⁹  Mrigendra P. Singh^1,10  Harsh Rajvanshi^1,11  Sekh Nisar^1,12 

[1] Department of Health Services, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, India;Department of Health Services, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Dindori, Madhya Pradesh, India;Department of Health Services, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, India;Directorate General of Health Services, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India;Foundation for Disease Elimination and Control of India (FDEC India), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India;Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, India;Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR-NIMR), New Delhi, India;Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Medical Statistics (ICMR-NIMS), New Delhi, India;Department of Economics, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, India;Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (ICMR-NIRTH), Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India;Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, India;Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, India;Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA), Singapore, Singapore;Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project, Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, India;Department of Health and Family Welfare, NHM Raigarh, Raigarh, Chattisgarh, India;

关键词: ASHA needs assessment;    Mandla;    Balaghat;    Dindori;    Malaria elimination;    Capacity building;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12936-023-04492-8

 received in 2022-04-01, accepted in 2023-02-13,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGlobal malaria cases rose by 14 million, and deaths by 69,000, in 2020. In India, a 46% decline has been reported between 2020 and 2019. In 2017, the Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project conducted a needs-assessment of the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) of Mandla district. This survey revealed the inadequate level of knowledge in malaria diagnosis and treatment. Subsequently, a training programme was launched for enhancing malaria-related knowledge of ASHAs. The present study was conducted in 2021 to evaluate the impact of training on malaria-related knowledge and practices of ASHAs in Mandla. This assessment was also done in two adjoining districts: Balaghat and Dindori.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was administered to ASHAs to measure their knowledge and practices related to malaria etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. A comparison of information collected from these three districts was performed using simple descriptive statistics, comparison of means and multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsSignificant improvement was noted amongst ASHAs of district Mandla between 2017 (baseline) and 2021 (endline) in knowledge related to malaria transmission, preventive measures, adherence to the national drug policy, diagnosis using rapid diagnostic tests, and identification of age group-specific, colour-coded artemisinin combination therapy blister packs (p < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that odds of Mandla baseline was 0.39, 0.48, 0.34, and 0.07 times lower for malaria-related knowledge on disease etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, respectively (p < 0.001). Further, participants in districts Balaghat and Dindori showed significantly lower odds for knowledge (p < 0.001) and treatment practices (p < 0.01) compared to Mandla endline. Education, attended training, having a malaria learner’s guide, and minimum 10 years’ work experience were potential predictors for good treatment practices.ConclusionThe findings of the study unequivocally establishes significant improvement in overall malaria-related knowledge and practices of ASHAs in Mandla as a result of periodic training and capacity building efforts. The study suggests that learnings from Mandla district could be helpful in improving level of knowledge and practices among frontline health workers.

【 授权许可】

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© The Author(s) 2023