Use of Insecticide-treated Net and Malaria Parasitemia in Under-fives at National Hospital Abuja

Aim: To determine the relationship of ITN utilisation with malaria parasitemia in under-five children attending the General Paediatric Outpatient Department (GPOPD) in National Hospital Abuja (NHA), as well as, explore factors that affect use / non-use of ITNs, so as to give informed education on ITN use to caregivers of children attending the clinic.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: GPOPD, Family Medicine Department of NHA between April 2014 and July 2014.

Methods: Three hundred and eighty (380) children aged between 6 and 59 months were recruited into the study using systematic sampling. Data about caregivers’ and children’s socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about malaria and ITNs, preferred malaria control method, ownership of ITNs or lack thereof, problems encountered when using ITN, sleeping arrangements, and source of mosquito net, were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using Epi-info version 7 statistical software. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Ethical approval was given by the Research and Ethics Committee of NHA. Written informed consent was obtained from all recruited patients.

Results: The level of ITN ownership was 57% (216 of 380) while the level of ITN utilisation was 30% (115 of 380) which revealed a clear gap between ITN ownership and utilisation. The prevalence of malaria parasitemia was 40% (95% CI 35.1 - 45.1%). The log mean parasite density was 2.14 ± 0.48. There was no statistically significant association between ITN use and socio-demographic characteristics of child and care-giver (age, gender, highest educational qualification, social class, housing structure), knowledge of the cause of malaria, as well as their perception of ITN effectiveness. Among those with malaria parasitemia, there was no statistically significant difference in the parasite density of ITN users and non-users.

Conclusion: A clear gap exists between ITN ownership and utilisation. Also, there was a lack of any statistically significant relationship between ITN use and malaria parasitemia in under-fives within this study setting.