Knowledge and practice of malaria prevention among residents of Ratuwamai Municipality, Nepal

Rajesh Karki; Niruta Bartoula; Maheshor Kaphle; Sanjaya Kumar Shah

doi:10.4103/2773-0344.374224

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Year : 2023 \| Volume : 3 \| Issue : 1 \| Page : 6

Knowledge and practice of malaria prevention among residents of Ratuwamai Municipality, Nepal Rajesh Karki¹, Niruta Bartoula², Maheshor Kaphle³, Sanjaya Kumar Shah¹ ¹ Department of Public Health, Yeti Health Science Academy, Purbanchal University, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal ² Department of Nursing, Yeti Health Science Academy, Purbanchal University, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal ³ Department of Public Health, People's Dental College and Hospital, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal Correspondence Address: Rajesh Karki Department of Public Health, Yeti Health Science Academy, Purbanchal University, Kathmandu 44600 Nepal Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None DOI: 10.4103/2773-0344.374224

Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and practice on malaria prevention among the residents of Ratuwamai Municipality in Nepal. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out on Ratuwamai Municipality of Ward No. 8 in Morang District, Nepal. A total of 352 respondents with an age range from 15 to 70 years were interviewed from October 9 to October 31, 2022. Statistically significant differences between two or more categorical groups were measured using independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA test, and Kruskal-Wallis H test. Result: Out of the total sample, 57.7% of the respondents were 24 to 50 years old with a mean age of (36.9±14.3) years. In the knowledge test, 82% of the responses were accurate. Though 98.6% of people had heard of malaria, only 48.3% said it was a communicable disease. In practice, 84.9% always cleaned the surrounding area and trimmed the bushes around the house; 75.9% used insecticide-treated bed nets or normal bed nets for sleeping; only 7.4% used mosquito repellent creams on exposed body parts while staying outdoors at night, working in fields, and sleeping. Conclusions: The majority had knowledge about malaria, but more than half had poor practice. We advise concerned authorities to promote the behavior change communication strategy to encourage individuals to adopt healthy, beneficial, and good behavioral practices.



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