Table 1 Baseline characteristics of study participants

Gender

  -Female

328 (54.0%)

306 (49.4%)

634 (51.7%)

0.107

  -Male

279 (46.0%)

313 (50.6%)

592 (48.3%)

Age (years)

30.12 (10.23)

31.55 (11.46)

1.42 (0.20-2.64)

0.022

Age group

  -Adolescent

65 (10.7%)

73 (11.8%)

138 (11.3%)

0.548

  -Adult

542 (89.3%)

546 (88.2%)

1088 (88.7%)

Level of education (whole population)

  -Primary or less

61 (10%)

57 (9.2%)

118 (9.6%)

0.618

  -At least secondary

546 (90%)

562 (90.8%)

1108 (90.4%)

Level of income

  -Less than average income

372 (61.3%)

370 (60.5%)

742 (60.5%)

0.588

  -Average income or more

235 (38.7%)

249 (40.2%)

484 (39.5%)

Reported last treatment for malaria

  -Less than 6 months ago

381 (62.8%)

386 (62.4%)

767 (62.6%)

0.882

  -More than 6 months ago

226 (37.2%)

233 (37.6%)

459 (37.4%)

Who recommended anti-malarial

  -Self

255 (42.0%)

303 (48.9%)

558 (45.5%)

0.015

  -Health professional

352 (58.0%)

316 (51.1%)

668 (54.5%)

Participants with a doctor’s prescription prior to purchase of anti-malarial

169 (27.8%)

52 (8.4%))

221 (18.0%)

< 0.001

Reported positive lab test prior to purchase of anti-malarial

103 (17.0%)

96 (15.5%)

199 (16.2%)

0.488

History of fever in the last 48 hours

394 (64.9%)

166 (26.8%)

560 (45.7%)

< 0.001