Abstract

Community Knowledge about malaria and mosquito behavior is critical for successful malaria intervention, appropriate treatment, prevention and control measures. Thus, this study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices of the community towards malaria and mosquito behavior in Abeshige Woreda, South west Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Abeshige Woreda from February to March 2017. A total of 384 individuals were interviewed to assess their knowledge, attitude and practices about malaria. Systematic random sampling was used to select the individuals in the sample. Data were collected by an interview based on structured questionnaire after pre-tested. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 soft ware. Most of the respondents (86.2%) believed that mosquito bite was responsible for malaria transmission. However, more than 14% of respondents mentioned hunger, exposure to cold weather, and sleeping with malaria patient as the causes of malaria. Feeling cold/shivering (76.8%), headache (70.1%), to be the most common signs and symptoms of malaria mentioned by respondents. All (100%) of the respondents mentioned that stagnant water as common breeding site of mosquito. About 81.5% of respondents reported that mosquito bite human during sleeping time. All of respondents claimed that they possessed at least one insecticide-treated nets (ITN), thus making the coverage of ITN, 100% in the area. Sleeping under ITN and using indoor residual spraying (IRS), cleaning environment are the most frequently applied methods for malaria prevention by respondents. All of respondents (100%) were believed that malaria is treatable disease and Chloroquine, Coartem, and Quinine were frequently mentioned anti-malarial drugs. A high level of knowledge about the cause, transmission and preventive methods of malaria was detected among the community in Abeshige woreda. However, a considerable proportion had misconception about transmission of malaria indicating the importance of health education to raise the community’s awareness about the disease.

Key word: Knowledge, attitude, practice, malaria, mosquito behavior, Abeshige, Ethiopia.