KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION, ILLNESS EXPERIENCES AND HEALTH-SEEKING BEHAVIOUR RELATING TO MALARIA AMONG IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Malaria remains a major public health challenge in Nigeria, despite the fact that it is preventable, treatable and curable. The burden of the disease among In-School Adolescents (ISA) is enormous; yet, the knowledge and the health-seeking behaviour of ISA relating to the disease have not been adequately explored. This study was therefore designed to investigate the knowledge, perception, illness experiences and health seeking behaviours relating to malaria among ISA in Ibadan North Local Government Area (LGA). A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted for this study. A five-stage sampling technique was used to select 430 ISA from Private and Public Schools (PPS) from different wards in the LGA. A semi-structured questionnaire used for data collection which included questions on the following issues: socio-demographic characteristics; respondents living conditions; a 66-point knowledge scale for assessing knowledge of causes, transmission route, symptoms, prevention, treatment and consequences of malaria; a 22-point perception scale for assessing the perception relating to malaria; malaria related health-seeking behaviour and illness experiences. An observation checklist was also used to assess the first aid services in each of the schools. Knowledge scores of less than 33, 33- 50 and >50 points were rated as poor, fair and good respectively. Perception scores of less than 11 and >11 were categorized as unfavourable (risky) and favorable (non-risky) respectively. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as T-test, ANOVA and Chi-square test at p=0.05. Respondents’ age was 14.5±2.2 years, 82.7% were from public schools and most (82.7%) were Yoruba. Respondents’ mean knowledge score was 27.0±7.9, with majority (76.1%) having poor knowledge. The mean perception score was 12.3±4.2 with 61.0% of the respondents having favourable perceptions. Most of the respondents (99.8%) had ever experienced malaria, but 51.8% had malaria within three months preceding the study. Majority (83.1%) claimed to own a mosquito net however, 57.6% slept under the mosquito net a night preceding the interview. The various treatment pathways adopted by respondents included: going to the hospital to receive treatment (76.1%), buying drugs from patent medicine vendors (70.7%), and use of herbs to treat malaria (66.9%). All the schools had first aid boxes and 83.3% were in use. However, none of the first aid boxes in use had antimalarial medicine. Schools with sick bays constituted 41.7%; however, anti malaria drugs were present in only one (20%) of the sick bays. Respondents’ had inadequate knowledge relating to malaria. Unreliable malaria treatment practices were common among the respondents and several of them had perceptions which can put them at risk of the disease. Public enlightenment, peer-education and trainings strategies are needed to address the identified gaps in knowledge, perceptions not in-line with the biomedical world view and some inappropriate health-seeking behaviours. Keywords: In-school adolescents; Malaria-related knowledge; Malaria-related perception; health-seeking behaviour.