The influence of the Gilgel-Gibe hydroelectric dam in Ethiopia on caregivers' knowledge, perceptions and health-seeking behaviour towards childhood malaria

Malaria Journal

Research

Niko Speybroeck¹  Delenasaw Yewhalaw²  Kifle Woldemichael³  Morankar Sudaker⁴  Kora Tushune⁵  Wim Van Bortel⁶  Luc Duchateau⁷  Wondwossen Kassahun⁸  Daniel Kaba⁹ 

[1] Department of Animal Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium;Public Health School, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium;Department of Biology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia;Department of Epidemiology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia;Department of Health Education, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia;Department of Health Planning and Health Management, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia;Department of Parasitology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium;Department of Physiology and Biometrics, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium;Department of Statistics, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia;Jimma Zone Health Bureau, Ministry of Health, Jimma, Ethiopia;

关键词: Malaria;    Malaria Transmission;    Indoor Residual Spray;    Uncomplicated Malaria;    Home Treatment;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-9-47

 received in 2009-10-21, accepted in 2010-02-11,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMalaria remains the most important public health problem in tropical and subtropical areas. Mothers' or caregivers' ability to recognize childhood malaria-related morbidity is crucial as knowledge, attitudes and health seeking behavior of caregivers towards childhood malaria could influence response to signs of the disease.MethodsA total of 1,003 caregivers in 'at-risk' villages in close proximity to the Gilgel-Gibe hydroelectric dam in south-western Ethiopia, and 953 caregivers in 'control' villages further away from the dam were surveyed using structured questionnaires to assess their knowledge, perceptions and health seeking behaviour about childhood malaria.ResultsMalaria (busa) was ranked as the most serious health problem. Caregivers perceived childhood malaria as a preventable ('at-risk' 96%, 'control' 86%) and treatable ('at-risk' 98% and 'control' 96%) disease. Most caregivers correctly associated the typical clinical manifestations with malaria attacks. The use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) was mentioned as a personal protective measure, whereas the role of indoor residual spraying (IRS) in malaria prevention and control was under-recognized. Most of the caregivers would prefer to seek treatment in health-care services in the event of malaria and reported the use of recommended anti-malarials.ConclusionHealth education to improve knowledge, perceptions and health-seeking behaviour related to malaria is equally important for caregivers in 'at risk' villages and caregivers in 'control' villages as minimal differences seen between both groups. Concluding, there may be a need of more than one generation after the introduction of the dam before differences can be noticed. Secondly, differences in prevalence between 'control' and 'at-risk' villages may not be sufficient to influence knowledge and behaviour.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Yewhalaw et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.