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Adherence to Malaria Preventive Measures and Associated Factors in Badewacho District, Southern Ethiopia

Malaria remains a major public health problem in Ethiopia threatening the lives of 68% of the population. At present, long lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying are the major malaria prevention and control methods in the country.This study was undertaken to assess adherence to currently available malaria preventive methods its associated factors inBadewacho District, Southern Ethiopia.A community based cross-sectional study was conducted between February and March, 2013. Systematic random sampling method was used to collect data on preventive measures from 138 households through semi-structured questionnaires administered to interviewees during home to home visit. The data was computed using a statistical soft ware SPSS version 16.0. A P-value <0.05 and 95% CI excluding 1 were considered statistically significant.The coverage and the proportion of households with one or more of their members utilizing mosquito nets in the district were 73.2% and 44.2% respectively. Net utilization of households with under-five year children was 32.1%. Dirtiness of the nets, lack of appropriate area for hanging, wearing out, and adherence to other preventive measures were mentioned as reasons for not using the nets. Only 63(45.7%) of the respondents knew that mosquitoes transmit malaria and most households sought treatment in public health facilities.Utilization of mosquito net was significantly associated with previous treatment for malaria in government health institutions and knowledge about malaria prevention methods.Coverage and utilization of the major malaria preventive measures was low in theBadewacho District, Southern Ethiopia. This indicates the necessity of health education to increase the community awareness in utilization of available malaria preventive measures to reduce the disease burden.