Background: Malaria remains one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in Cameroon. Children under 5 years old and pregnant women are most burdened. A few studies have been carried out on the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of patients towards malaria in this country. Objective: We aimed at evaluating the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice towards malaria in Western Cameroon. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, using a semi-opened questionnaire in two Cameroonian’s hospitals in April 2018. We analyzed our collected data with Chi square test through SAS software (version 9.4). P-values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Result: Of 691 participants, 55.14% (381/691) defined malaria as a parasitic disease, 100% mentioned the mosquito as the transmission vector and 89.15% (616/691) mentioned blood stream as transmission route. The most preventive method used by the participants was mosquito nets. The use of malaria treatment was associated with the level of income and the fact of consultation of a health care practitioner the month preceding the survey. About 72.4% (501/691) of respondents took antimalarial treatment without consultation or medical prescription. Among patients who spent less than 8000XAF (12Euro) for treatment during their last episode of malaria, 70.1% (101/144) used a plant-based treatment. Conclusion: Participants had good knowledge and attitudes towards malaria. However, practices were not the best. These results highlight the problem of self-medication, which might lead to some resistance against antimalarial treatment in the future.
| Published in | Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 7, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11 |
| Page(s) | 47-52 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices, Self-medication, Malaria, West-Cameroon
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APA Style
Eric Defo Tamgno, Armand Tiotsia Tsapi, Martin Fossi, Ghyslaine Bruna Djeunang Dongho, Dorothy Kah Fosah Achu, et al. (2021). Malaria in West Cameroon: An Assessment of the Populations’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices. Central African Journal of Public Health, 7(2), 47-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11
ACS Style
Eric Defo Tamgno; Armand Tiotsia Tsapi; Martin Fossi; Ghyslaine Bruna Djeunang Dongho; Dorothy Kah Fosah Achu, et al. Malaria in West Cameroon: An Assessment of the Populations’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2021, 7(2), 47-52. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11
AMA Style
Eric Defo Tamgno, Armand Tiotsia Tsapi, Martin Fossi, Ghyslaine Bruna Djeunang Dongho, Dorothy Kah Fosah Achu, et al. Malaria in West Cameroon: An Assessment of the Populations’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2021;7(2):47-52. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11,
author = {Eric Defo Tamgno and Armand Tiotsia Tsapi and Martin Fossi and Ghyslaine Bruna Djeunang Dongho and Dorothy Kah Fosah Achu and Germaine Ekoyol Ekobe and Gianluca Russo and Olivier Ethgen and Martin Sanou Sobze},
title = {Malaria in West Cameroon: An Assessment of the Populations’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices},
journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
volume = {7},
number = {2},
pages = {47-52},
doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20210702.11},
abstract = {Background: Malaria remains one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in Cameroon. Children under 5 years old and pregnant women are most burdened. A few studies have been carried out on the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of patients towards malaria in this country. Objective: We aimed at evaluating the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice towards malaria in Western Cameroon. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, using a semi-opened questionnaire in two Cameroonian’s hospitals in April 2018. We analyzed our collected data with Chi square test through SAS software (version 9.4). P-values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Result: Of 691 participants, 55.14% (381/691) defined malaria as a parasitic disease, 100% mentioned the mosquito as the transmission vector and 89.15% (616/691) mentioned blood stream as transmission route. The most preventive method used by the participants was mosquito nets. The use of malaria treatment was associated with the level of income and the fact of consultation of a health care practitioner the month preceding the survey. About 72.4% (501/691) of respondents took antimalarial treatment without consultation or medical prescription. Among patients who spent less than 8000XAF (12Euro) for treatment during their last episode of malaria, 70.1% (101/144) used a plant-based treatment. Conclusion: Participants had good knowledge and attitudes towards malaria. However, practices were not the best. These results highlight the problem of self-medication, which might lead to some resistance against antimalarial treatment in the future.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Malaria in West Cameroon: An Assessment of the Populations’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices AU - Eric Defo Tamgno AU - Armand Tiotsia Tsapi AU - Martin Fossi AU - Ghyslaine Bruna Djeunang Dongho AU - Dorothy Kah Fosah Achu AU - Germaine Ekoyol Ekobe AU - Gianluca Russo AU - Olivier Ethgen AU - Martin Sanou Sobze Y1 - 2021/03/12 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11 DO - 10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11 T2 - Central African Journal of Public Health JF - Central African Journal of Public Health JO - Central African Journal of Public Health SP - 47 EP - 52 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-5781 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20210702.11 AB - Background: Malaria remains one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in Cameroon. Children under 5 years old and pregnant women are most burdened. A few studies have been carried out on the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of patients towards malaria in this country. Objective: We aimed at evaluating the level of knowledge, attitudes and practice towards malaria in Western Cameroon. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey, using a semi-opened questionnaire in two Cameroonian’s hospitals in April 2018. We analyzed our collected data with Chi square test through SAS software (version 9.4). P-values lower than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Result: Of 691 participants, 55.14% (381/691) defined malaria as a parasitic disease, 100% mentioned the mosquito as the transmission vector and 89.15% (616/691) mentioned blood stream as transmission route. The most preventive method used by the participants was mosquito nets. The use of malaria treatment was associated with the level of income and the fact of consultation of a health care practitioner the month preceding the survey. About 72.4% (501/691) of respondents took antimalarial treatment without consultation or medical prescription. Among patients who spent less than 8000XAF (12Euro) for treatment during their last episode of malaria, 70.1% (101/144) used a plant-based treatment. Conclusion: Participants had good knowledge and attitudes towards malaria. However, practices were not the best. These results highlight the problem of self-medication, which might lead to some resistance against antimalarial treatment in the future. VL - 7 IS - 2 ER -
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