Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Mothers of Under-Five Regarding Prevention of Malaria in Children: Evidence from ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is an infectious disease and a serious health issue that needs urgent attention especially in children less than 5 years. The study aims at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practices of mothers regarding the prevention of malaria in children between 0-5 years. Convenience sampling method was used to select 160 mothers that attend child survival clinic and children outpatient clinic in olabisi onabanjo university teaching hospital (OOUTH), sagamu, Ogun State. Questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents, and the data was analysed using statistic package for social sciences (SPSS, version 17). Findings from the study showed that 55% of the respondents had a good knowledge about malaria, 78% of the respondents had a positive attitude regarding malaria prevention, 37% of the respondents practiced malaria prevention. The factors which influenced respondents' practice of prevention were the age of mothers, their income level and the frequency of malaria episode. Despite the fair overall knowledge and good attitudes, practices towards malaria prevention were poor. Therefore interventions aimed at social and behaviour change should primarily target the gaps in practices highlighted by the study.