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Table 6 Summary of community members’ knowledge about indoor mosquito density and how these relate to certain housing and environmental characteristics

From: Housing gaps, mosquitoes and public viewpoints: a mixed methods assessment of relationships between house characteristics, malaria vector biting risk and community perspectives in rural Tanzania

Variables assessed

Response category

Percentage (N)

Whether participants believe their house let in mosquitoes

Yes

98.5% (197)

No

1.5% (3)

How participants believed mosquitoes entered their houses

Through open doors

28.5% (57)

Through windows

32.5% (65)

Through holes in the wall

3.0% (6)

Through the eave space

19.5% (39)

Through both open windows and doors

13.5% (27)

Through open window doors, holes in walls and eaves

2% (4)

Others

1% (2)

Age of house (date of construction)

< 4 years ago

36.5% (73)

5–8 years ago

26.5% (53)

> 9 years ago

37.0% (74)

Main reasons for constructing the kind of house

Because it is permanent

36.5% (73)

Because it prevents animals from entering the house

26.5% (53)

Because it prevents insects

17.0% (34)

Others

20.0% (40)

Whether people consider mosquito prevention as a key factor when constructing houses

Yes

58.5% (117)

No

40.0% (80)

Does not know

1.5% (3)

Specific practices considered by participants (during construction of their houses) for preventing mosquitoes

Netting on the window

38.0% (76)

Blocking the eaves

8.0% (16)

Using bricks on the wall

2.0% (4)

Using cement on the wall

1 (2)

Does not know

38.5% (77)

Others

12.5% (25)

Whether participants knew open eave spaces let in mosquitoes

Yes

96.0% (192)

No

4.0% (8)

Whether participants knew that surrounding environments influence vector densities in their houses

Yes

97.0% (194)

No

3.0% (6)