Table 1 Variables used to construct the care-seeking ideation index

Knowledge

Have you ever heard of a disease called malaria?

What causes malaria?

What are the different types of malaria in Guyana?

What signs or symptoms would lead you to think that a person has malaria?

If you thought you had malaria, where could you go to get a free malaria test and treatment?

What are some things that people can do to stop them from getting malaria?

Perceived severity

If you became infected with malaria, how serious would that be for your health and well-being?

Perceived susceptibility

How likely do you think it is that you will become infected with malaria within the next 6 months?

Perceived norms

Generally, how many of your friends and co-workers stop taking their malaria medicine before the end of the treatment?

Perceived self-efficacy

I am confident that I can get a test for malaria within 24 h after I start to feel symptoms

I am confident that I could complete a full three-day treatment if I were diagnosed with P. falciparum

I am confident that I could complete a full 14-day treatment if I were diagnosed with P. vivax

Perceived response efficacy

The results of the tests given by volunteer testers are always accurate

A blood test for malaria is the only way to know if someone really has malaria

A person should only take malaria medicine if a health provider or tester says that a fever really is malaria

Beliefs

I don’t worry about malaria because it can be easily treated

Every case of malaria can potentially lead to death

When someone I know gets malaria, I usually expect them to completely recover in a few days

A person sick with fever should always receive a blood test to confirm that the sickness is malaria before taking malaria drugs

A person should go for a malaria test the same day they start to feel symptoms

If I think I might have malaria, I treat myself first, then go for a test if the symptoms get worse

A person should only use the Ministry of Health-approved medicine for malaria

A person with malaria should only use the treatment approved for the type of malaria you have

Malaria medicine that you buy in the market or a shop is as good as the ones approved by the government

Trained malaria testers in my area always have a supply of the approved treatments

Interpersonal communication

In the past month, have you talked with anyone about the best ways to prevent malaria?