Women's knowledge and perceptions of malaria and use of malaria vector control interventions in Kersa, eastern Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Proportion of women who had heard of malaria, by some sociodemographic and climatic characteristics of Kersa district, 2010

Variables (n=2,867)	n	Frequency (%)
Age category of women
15–29 years	1,092	918 (84.1)
30–44 years	1,130	989 (87.5)
≥45 years	645	556 (86.2)
Level of education of women
Illiterate (no formal education)	2,486	2,104 (84.6)
Grades 1 to 4	182	171 (94.0)
Grades≥5	199	188 (94.5)
Radio possession of household
Yes	1,146	1,012 (88.3)
No	1,721	1,451 (84.3)
Place of residence
Urban	341	328 (96.2)
Rural	2,526	2,135 (84.5)
Altitude above sea level
≤2,000 m	535	516 (96.4)
>2,000 m	2,332	1,947 (83.5)

Table 2 Women's knowledge of malaria transmission and its preventability, by some sociodemographic environmental factors of Kersa district, 2010

Variables (n=2463)	n	Communicable frequency (%)	Preventable frequency (%)
Age category of women
15–29 years	922	485 (52.6)	722 (78.1)
30–44 years	984	624 (63.4)	812 (82.9)
≥45 years	557	304 (54.6)	420 (75.1)
Level of education of women
Illiterate (no formal education)	2,105	1,202 (57.1)	1,675 (79.4)
Grades 1 to 4	170	88 (51.8)	123 (72.4)
Grades≥5	188	123 (65.4)	156 (84.8)
Radio possession of household
Yes	1,014	547 (53.9)	782 (76.9)
No	1,449	866 (59.8)	1,172 (81.1)
Place of residence
Urban	326	121 (37.1)	168 (51.4)
Rural	2,137	1,292 (60.5)	1,786 (83.6)
Altitude above sea level
≤2,000 m	514	366 (71.2)	420 (81.2)
>2,000 m	1,949	1,047 (53.7)	1,534 (78.8)

Table 3 Use of malaria interventions, by knowledge of malaria and its transmission, prevention, and severity, in Kersa, eastern Ethiopia, 2010

Characteristics	IRS (n=798) No (%)	Replastered (n=59) No (%)	Owns at least one LLIN (n=1,879) No (%)	Uses at least one LLIN (n=630) No (%)	Chi-square test (P value)
Heard about malaria (n=2,867)
Yes	670 (84.0)	56 (94.9)	1,559 (83.0)	534 (84.8)	3.12 (0.08)
No	128 (16.0)	3 (5.1)	320 (17.0)	96 (15.2)
Malaria is a communicable disease (n=2,463)
Yes	464 (58.1)	35 (59.3)	1,064 (56.6)	416 (66.0)	35.20 (0.0001)
No	191 (23.9)	18 (30.5)	448 (23.8)	107 (16.9)
I do not know	11 (14)	3 (5.1)	39 (2.1)	9 (1.4)
Route of transmission of malaria (n=1,413)
Mosquito bite	365 (46.0)	26 (44.1)	668 (35.6)	339 (53.8)	99.80 (0.0001)
Others	97 (12.2)	9 (15.3)	400 (21.3)	79 (12.5)
Malaria is a preventable disease (n=2,463)
Yes	591 (74.1)	47 (79.7)	1,296 (69.0)	490 (77.8)	45.18 (0.0001)
No	73 (9.1)	8 (13.6)	193 (10.3)	39 (6.2)
I don't know	7 (0.9)	1 (1.7)	73 (3.9)	6 (1.0)
Malaria is a severe disease (n=2,463)
Yes	665 (83.3)	55 (93.2)	1,540 (82.0)	527 (83.7)	Not valid
No	4 (0.5)	0 (0.0)	11 (0.6)	5 (0.8)
I don't know	1 (0.1)	1 (1.7)	2 (0.1)	2 (0.3)
Malaria is a curable disease (n=2,463)
Yes	669 (83.4)	56 (94.9)	1,472 (78.3)	526 (83.5)	Not valid
No	2 (0.3)	0 (0.0)	79 (4.2)	5 (0.8)
I don't know	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	1 (0.02)	1 (0.2)

Table 4 Association of household characteristics with IRS spraying in households of the Kersa district, 2010

	IRS sprayed
Variables (n=2867)	Yes No (%)	No No (%)	Crude OR (95%CI)	P
Wall types
Mud and earth	410 (51.4)	1,647 (79.6)	0.27 (0.23, 0.32)	0.001
Wood, cement, and others	388 (48.6)	422 (20.4)	1
Roof types
CIS	648 (81.2)	1,624 (78.5)	1.18 (0.96, 1.46)	0.11
TR and others	150 (18.8)	445 (21.5)	1
Radio possession
Yes	262 (32.8)	884 (42.7)	0.66 (0.55, 0.78)	0.001
No	536 (67.2)	1,185 (57.3)	1
Altitude above sea level
≤2,000 m	397 (49.7)	138 (6.7)	13.85 (11.10, 17.29)	0.001
>2,000 m	401 (50.3)	1,931 (93.3)	1
At least one LLIN owned
Yes	662 (83.0)	1,217 (58.8)	3.41 (2.78, 4.18)	0.001
No	136 (17.0)	852 (41.2)	1
At least one LLIN used
Yes	363 (45.5)	270 (13.0)	5.56 (4.58, 6.75)	0.001
No	435 (54.5)	1,799 (87.0)	1
Heard about malaria
Yes	669 (83.8)	1,793 (86.7)	0.80 (0.63, 1.01)	0.06
No	129 (16.2)	276 (13.3)	1
Malaria preventable
Yes	591 (74.1)	1,363 (65.9)	1.29 (1.04, 1.60)	0.02
No	73 (9.1)	308 (14.9)	0.70 (0.51, 0.97)	0.03
I do not know	134 (16.8)	398 (19.2)	1