Knowledge About Mosquito Net Including Insecticide Treated Net and Their Utilization Among Patients in Iwogban Health Center, Benin City, Edo State
Chapter One
General Objective of the Study
The general objective of this study was to assess the Knowledge about mosquito net including insecticide treated net among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city in Nigeria.
Specific Objectives of the Study
- To assess the knowledge level about the effect of insecticide treated nets in malaria prevention
- To determine the extent of insecticide treated net ownership among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city
- To investigate the levels of insecticide treated net usage among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter presents the relevant literature on the research objectives which are: to measure the insecticide treated net ownership among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city; to measure the insecticide treated net usage among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city: and to assess the knowledge level of the respondents on the role of insecticide treated nets in malaria prevention.
Assess the Knowledge Level about the Effect of insecticide treated nets in Malaria Prevention
When it comes to knowledge level and practice among study populations regarding malaria disease, prevention and the current treatment regime, studies have shown that although individuals are knowledgeable, when limited to financial capability their power of acting in response to malaria treatment becomes low. Women were seen delaying in seeking health care due to financial constrains while men were less willing when it came to spending towards the health of their children Franckel, A., & Lalou, R. (2023).ITNs ownership depends directly on knowledge, attitude and practice because it measures how knowledgeable mothers are when it comes to Malaria prevention that made them acquire treated bed-nets. Attitude also contributes to the act of acquiring ITNs (Minja, 2023).
In addition to the above literature the more knowledgeable a primary care giver is, the the healthier the children are and the vice versa is also true. There is a lot of research in describing the attitude of primary care givers and if they have enough knowledge/skills towards malaria prevention. Njama, Dorsey, Guwatudde, Greenhouse, Musis and Kamya (2017), when studying knowledge of care givers in Uganda, found out that when care givers are educated they would prefer malaria prevention methods than treatment. Therefore, use of bed-nets is the most appropriate method of malaria prevention.
Prevention of Disease through Better Knowledge and Awareness
Asery, Sunkaria, Marwaha, and Sharma, (2018), in their study on people’s perception of malaria in Mbarara, Uganda recommended that people should be educated on the connection between mosquitoes and malaria and on seeking biomedical treatment for convulsions. In addition, the successful malaria control programme requires sustained political commitments: integration of malaria control into the health system; coordination with relevant non-health sectors; full participation of communities; and mobilization of adequate national and international human and financial resources.
It has been reported in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that measures such as use of bed nets were mainly aimed at prevention of the nuisance of mosquito biting rather than against malaria (Thompson, 2018). In addition, Thompson, (2018), suggest that the finding that bed nets be used to prevent the malaria mosquito from biting rather than as protection from malaria or incomplete use of treatment strategies against malaria is an incorrect measure. The correct facts for the control of malaria should be included in all information, education and communication messages within the framework of a malaria control programme. Furthermore, barriers such as the high cost of the nets that impact negatively on the control programme, should always be considered when implementing interventions.
Another study was conducted in South-Western Nigeria to determine the knowledge of the symptoms of malaria, attitude towards preventive measures as well as treatment seeking behavior among the community members of Ile-life community in 2018 (Erhun,2018). More than 60.0% of the respondents in this study were familiar with at least three signs/symptoms associated with malaria. The findings revealed that 35.5% of the respondents indicated that they made use of synthetic anti-malarial drugs; and 0.9% consulted herbalists’ while13.4% used local herbs to treat malaria. Some of the respondents, at 27.3% indicated that they went to the hospital, 18.2% just prayed and 1.7% administered spiritual/ritual waters as a cure. The remaining 3.0% of the respondents mentioned that they merely ignored the signs (Erhun, 2018).
In addition to these findings, factors such as cost, level of education, religious beliefs, perceived safety, and convenience and respondents’ state of health were found to influence the respondents’ choice of malaria treatment and preventive methods. The finding indicated that, convenience and severity of the disease affected respondents’ choice of treatment in more than 50.0% of the cases. The same study found that the use of untreated bed nets, fumigation and insecticide bed nets were not common among the studied communities though most of the respondents who are above secondary school education level expressed willingness to use such preventive measures. Based on these findings, the researcher recommended the intensification of malaria public enlightenment, provision of affordable and effective malaria preventive methods and provision of free malaria treatment at public hospitals (Erhun, 2018).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter discusses the methodology for carrying out the study. The section is divided into the research design, population and sampling design, data collection, research procedures, data analysis methods, and chapter summary.
Research Design
This research took the form of an inquiry, and the overall plan for connecting the conceptual research problem to the empirical research. A research design describes what data is required, the method of data collection and data analysis in relation to answering of the research questions (Wyk, 2012). The major role of research design is to reduce the chance of drawing incorrect interpretations from data. A research design ensures that the evidence collected enables one to answer the questions in the study or to test the theories appropriately. There are three major types of research designs: descriptive, exploratory and explanatory research design. Essentially, the descriptive research design captures the key characteristics of a situation from a neutral point of observation with direct references to the variables (Lambert & Lambert, 2012). A descriptive research design illustrates the way a situation is, and the finding was the basis for. The descriptive research design was appropriate for this study because it portrayed the status of assessing the current ownership and utilization of insecticide treated net among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city and helped determine reasons, barriers and behaviors around the effective use of insecticide treated nets. The research findings are useful in the formulation of future company plans and policies relating to the acquisition of new technology in health facilities.
Population and Sampling Design
Target Population
The target population is the total number of people that the research seeks to cover. Unambiguous selection of the target population is essential to ensure inclusion of the most eligible subjects in the study, and exclusion of irrelevant units. There are different methods of defining population including occupation, geographical location, gender, religion, and ethnicity groups among others. The total population targeted was the 1100 pregnant women attending Iwogban health center and the 2,200 heads of patients hence making a total number of 3,300.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Introduction
This chapter provides presentation, analysis and discussion of the empirical findings Knowledge about mosquito net including insecticide treated net among patients. The findings are organized according to the specific objectives of the study: to assess the knowledge level about the effect of insecticide treated nets in malaria prevention; to determines the extent of insecticide treated net ownership among patients and to investigate the levels of insecticide treated net usage among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city of Nigeria.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This chapter summarizes the research findings in line with the specific research objectives, gives conclusions and makes recommendations for the study. It also provides suggestions for further research which involves the gaps which the researcher feels still need to be investigated.
Summary of Research Findings
The purpose of this study was to assess the Knowledge about mosquito net including insecticide treated net among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city in Nigeria. The research questions that were looked into involved assessing the knowledge level about the effect of insecticide treated nets in malaria prevention; the extent of insecticide treated net ownership among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city; and the levels of insecticide treated net usage among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city of Nigeria.
A descriptive research design was utilized to investigate the situation and the findings were the basis for assessing the current ownership and utilization of insecticide treated net among patients in Iwogban health center, Benin city and for determining the reasons, barriers and behaviors around the effective use of insecticide treated nets. The research findings were used in the formulation of future plans and policies relating to the acquisition of new technology in the health sector. The study used a structured close-ended questionnaire that was distributed to the entire study population. The decision to use the close-ended questionnaires was driven by the ability of the method to collect a wide range of information within a short time in a convenient manner. Besides, questionnaires were easy and quick to answer conclusively and facilitated faster data analysis.
Regarding research question one, the respondents strongly agreed that they are aware of ideas of preventing malaria and they are also knowledgeable on how to control malaria by clearing of bushes around them, removing of water loggings to destroy breeding places of mosquitos and also sleeping under treated mosquito nets even though there was no fair distribution of insecticide treated net.
Regarding research question two, the respondents strongly agreed that it is true that insecticide treated nets are delivered for free either through mass campaigns or routinely in Iwogban health center to pregnant women and newborn children. The only challenging fact is that some families have no pregnant mothers attending Iwogban health center and none born as well and they live below a dollar in a day so accessing treated mosquito nets is a problem hence not everyone is in apposition own insecticide treated nets leading to spread of malaria disease. In addition to that, some patients are overpopulated, therefore insecticide treated nets ownership is cumbersome.
In response to the third research question, the respondents strongly agreed that insecticide treated nets usage among patients is seen through creating of awareness and knowledge that helps the respondents in the prevention of malaria disease and spread of the disease. On the other hand, women were seen to delay in-terms of seeking health services which were linked to limited financial capacity causing lack of malaria prevention. Contrarily men were seen to be usually first in-terms of seeking health care. This revealed the reasons as to why patients were men were the head of the houses had access to treated mosquito nets as compared to houses that were headed by women.
Conclusion
Conclusion on assessing the knowledge level about the effect of insecticide treated nets in malaria prevention
In conclusion, poor coordination and distribution of insecticide treated nets is one of the biggest challenges in the execution of organizational policies and strategies all over the world. Coordination is the interdependence of different organizational structures; it is a mandatory requirement in situations where multiple parties are required to complete the same task.
Conclusion on Determining the Extent of insecticide treated net Ownership among Households
In conclusion, the use of long lasting insecticidal nets (insecticide treated nets) has been the main approach to vector control in most areas of the country. A recent malaria indicator survey (MIS), however, showed low levels of ownership (19%) and use (20%) of ITNs/insecticide treated nets. Overall access to malaria information (19%) and knowledge of its cause (circa 60%) were also inadequate. Furthermore, the MIS suffered from a number of sampling and logistical challenges including oversampling of urban populations, disproportionate sampling of male patients, and subsequent difficulties in weighting statistical results.
Conclusion on investigating the levels of insecticide treated net usage among patients
In conclusion insecticide treated nets are delivered for free either through mass campaigns or routinely in Iwogban health center to pregnant women and newborn children. insecticide treated nets are also commonly distributed among internally displaced persons (IDPs) or targeted at focal areas in response to epidemics. Since 2016, approximately 2 million insecticide treated nets have been distributed in Nigeria but data disaggregated to the district was not available.
Recommendations
Recommendation for Improvement
The study recommends that the distribution of insecticide treated nets should be done without bias in order to make sure that every patient gets the nets that help in preventing mosquitoes from attacking them.
Recommendation on Assessing the Knowledge Level about the Effect of insecticide treated nets in Malaria Prevention
The study recommends that the government and the Ministry of health should have a budget dedicated to teaching individuals on matters concerning the knowledge level about the effect of insecticide treated nets in malaria prevention.
Recommendation on Determining the Extent of insecticide treated net Ownership among Households
The study recommends the frequent use of insecticide treated nets among patients and fair distribution of the insecticide treated nets as well.
Recommendation on investigating the levels of insecticide treated net usage among patients
The study recommends that there should be a strict policy tht governs free distribution of insecticide treated nets to pregnant mothers attending Iwogban health center and the people at risk of malaria.
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