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Table 4 Reasons for not seeking diagnostic testing for the last febrile illness

From: Attitudes toward home-based malaria testing in rural and urban Sierra Leone

Characteristic

Home-based (by self/family or CHV) testing preference (n = 330)

Laboratory-based testing preference (n = 95)

Rural (n = 299)

Urban (n = 31)

Rural (n = 71)

Urban (n = 24)

Did not want to spend money on the test

64.4 (192/298)

71.0 (22/31)

72.9 (51/70)

82.6 (19/23)

Wanted to wait a few days to see if the fever went away

42.4 (126/297)

63.3 (19/30)

32.8 (22/67)

52.4 (11/21)

Did not want to travel to a laboratory

41.9 (124/296)

54.8 (17/31)

22.5 (16/71)

60.9 (14/23)

Did not need a test because already knew the cause of the fever

34.5 (102/296)

83.9 (26/31)

18.6 (13/70)

52.4 (11/21)

A doctor or other healthcare provider did not recommend a test

27.2 (81/298)

25.8 (8/31)

33.3 (23/69)

31.6 (6/19)

Did not want to have to wait for the test results

23.5 (70/298)

35.5 (11/31)

16.9 (12/71)

56.5 (13/23)

Does not like blood draws

14.2 (42/296)

16.1 (5/31)

11.4 (8/70)

34.8 (8/23)

  1. Note: This table presents results for the 488 (59.4%) adults who reported not seeking microbiological diagnosis of the cause of the most recent febrile illness and then indicated a preference for home-based or laboratory-based testing (n = 425).