Malaria knowledge and bed net use in three transmission settings in southern Africa

Malaria Journal

Table 3 Reported knowledge on malaria causes, symptoms and preventive measures by study site

	Choma District N = 789		Nchelenge District N = 1643		Mutasa District N = 1404		Total N = 3836
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Knowledge of causes of malaria
Mosquito bites	705	89.4	1344	81.8	1212	86.3	3261	85.0
Also cited other cause(s)	48	6.8	21	1.6	19	1.6	88	2.7
Dirty surroundings	72	9.1	24	1.5	54	3.8	150	3.9
Drinking bad water	80	10.1	36	2.2	21	1.5	137	3.6
Other causes^a	57	7.2	38	2.3	62	4.4	157	4.1
Knowledge of malaria symptoms
Mentioned 3 or more common symptoms of malaria^b	264	33.5	267	16.3	583	15.2	1114	29.0
Chills	490	62.1	925	56.3	708	50.5	2123	55.4
Headache	539	68.3	491	29.9	982	70.0	2012	52.5
Fever	374	47.4	588	35.8	476	33.9	1438	37.5
Weakness or fatigue	159	20.2	188	11.4	845	60.2	1192	31.1
Body ache or pain	157	19.9	542	33.0	209	14.9	908	23.7
Vomiting	243	30.8	94	5.7	499	35.6	836	21.8
Other symptoms^c	374	47.4	248	15.1	569	40.5	1191	31.0
Knowledge of the prevention of malaria
Sleep under a mosquito net	689	87.3	1173	71.4	943	67.2	2805	73.1
Seek early treatment	134	17.0	145	8.8	161	11.5	440	11.5
Keep surroundings clean	113	14.3	49	3.0	257	18.3	419	10.9
Bury mosquito breeding sites	84	10.6	36	2.2	203	14.5	323	8.4
Spray insecticide inside the house	23	2.9	24	1.5	211	15.0	258	6.7
Take medicine to prevent malaria	10	1.3	87	5.3	91	6.5	188	4.9
Eat clean food	80	10.1	34	2.1	27	1.9	141	3.7
Other measures^d	10	1.3	34	2.1	180	12.8	224	5.8
Source of malaria knowledge
Health care worker at clinic or hospital	539	68.3	754	45.9	793	56.5	2086	54.4
School	110	13.9	243	14.8	248	17.7	601	15.7
Community health worker	32	4.1	76	4.6	223	15.9	331	8.6
Other sources^e	88	11.2	224	13.6	131	9.3	443	11.5

Percentage total exceed 100 because of multiple responses
^aOther causes included breathing bad air, cold related and eating bad food, fresh fruits, maize or sugar cane
^bCommon symptoms of malaria were fever, chills, headache, weakness or fatigue, and body ache or pain
^cOther symptoms included diarrhea, coughing, flu-like symptoms, yellow eyes or skin and thirst
^dOther preventive measures included keeping the skin covered, wearing insect repellent, having screens on the windows, burning mosquito coils, burning a fire in the house and not going outside at certain times
^eOther sources were radio, newspapers, posters in health post or health center, friends or relatives, non-governmental organizations and the ICEMR study team

ISSN: 1475-2875