Knowledge and health seeking behavior for malaria among the local inhabitants in an endemic area of Ethiopia: implications for control

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge and health seeking behavior for malaria among the local inhabitants in an endemic area of Ethiopia: Implications for control. 98.6% and 80.7% of respondents had awareness about malaria and the cause (‘mosquito bite’) of malaria, respectively. 186 (81.6%) respondents seek treatment for a febrile disease from health care facilities. Chi-square analysis revealed a strong association between the edu- cational status of respondents and the measures they take to prevent malaria (Х2 = 58.7; df = 16; p < 0.001). The findings clearly suggest that the majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge and enviable health seeking behaviour. However, still a sizable faction had misconception and undesirable health seeking behaviour. It’s a major barrier to implement effective malaria control strategies in the resource- limited settings particularly in country like Ethiopia. In this context, appropriate communication strategies apparently inevitable. Therefore, appropriate communication strategies should be designed to promote the knowledge and health seeking behaviour of vulnerable section of the society in this vicinity.