Knowledge of Malaria among Adult Residents in Abi Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria

Malaria is still responsible for most disease morbidity and mortality especially in poor resource settings where there is stable and high transmission. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge of malaria among adult residents in Abi Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was adopted for the study. A pre-tested structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used to collect data from 450 respondents who were selected using the multi-stage sampling technique. Data generated was entered into excel spread sheet and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0) software for analysis. Results were presented in frequencies, tables and charts. The results obtained showed that most respondents 424 (94.2%) acknowledged that they have heard of malaria before and their major sources of information were television/radio 208 (42.3%), health worker 138 (28.0%) and awareness programme/campaigns 87 (17.7%). On the average, most respondents 356 (79.1%) had good knowledge of malaria with regards to malaria signs and symptoms 363 (80.7%), methods of malaria treatment 377 (83.8%), malaria preventive measures 358 (79.6%) and consequence of delay in treatment of malaria 391 (86.9%), while the remaining 94 (20.9%) had poor knowledge. It was observed that age (p = 0.003), occupation (p = 0.002), education (p = 0.000) and house type (p = 0.000) were statistically significantly associated with knowledge of malaria among respondents. Hence, to bridge the knowledge gap, correct and debunk any widely held erroneous beliefs about malaria and simultaneously heighten awareness level, malaria information and messages should also be propagated through the traditional media system and other community-oriented outreach strategies.