Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

Introduction: Home management of fever by caregivers is particularly relevant for ensuring effective care to under-five children in Sub-Saharan countries with high-transmission of malaria like Nigeria. Our study aimed to assess home management of fever among mothers and other caregivers of underfive...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Liasu Adeagbo Ahmed, Olubankole Akinboboye, Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi, David Akintayo Oguntuase
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Edizioni FS 2017-11-01
Series:Journal of Health and Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss23_309-322.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832595547709505536
author Liasu Adeagbo Ahmed
Olubankole Akinboboye
Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi
David Akintayo Oguntuase
author_facet Liasu Adeagbo Ahmed
Olubankole Akinboboye
Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi
David Akintayo Oguntuase
author_sort Liasu Adeagbo Ahmed
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Home management of fever by caregivers is particularly relevant for ensuring effective care to under-five children in Sub-Saharan countries with high-transmission of malaria like Nigeria. Our study aimed to assess home management of fever among mothers and other caregivers of underfive children attending Federal Medical Centre in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out. A systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit participants (mothers and other caregivers). A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used. Clinical findings and malaria test were performed on children using standard methods. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 15. Results: Prevalence of home treatment of fever was 98.4%. Most of the caregivers bought antifever drugs from patent medicine shops and only 11.9 % of them got a prescription drug from pharmacies. Despite good knowledge about causes of malaria by caregivers (72.6%) and a prompt medical treatment within 24 h of fever onset (84.2%), many of their children were treated with only paracetamol (45%) and, therefore, they presented to the hospital febrile (61.8%), tachycardic (63.7%), and tachypnoic (83.9%). Almost all of the children were diagnosed with malaria (98%) associated with some types of complication such as convulsion (29.6%) and anaemia (52.7%). Chi square test showed a significant (P < 0.005) difference between treatment modality (inpatient versus outpatient) with regards to educational level, type of caregivers, place of domicile, use of antimalarial in combination with paracetamol, and presence of complications. Discussion and Conclusion: In our study, home management of malaria by caregivers of under-five children was ineffective. Indeed, the effectiveness of home management of malaria depends not only on the early diagnosis, but also on a prompt and appropriate treatment. Therefore, proper health education programmes on this disease should be implemented among caregivers of under-five children.
format Article
id doaj-art-7b2f281815be4238abd5d6cd3dc4cd66
institution Kabale University
issn 2499-2240
2499-5886
language English
publishDate 2017-11-01
publisher Edizioni FS
record_format Article
series Journal of Health and Social Sciences
spelling doaj-art-7b2f281815be4238abd5d6cd3dc4cd662025-01-18T18:20:31ZengEdizioni FSJournal of Health and Social Sciences2499-22402499-58862017-11-012330932210.19204/2017/hmmn7Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, NigeriaLiasu Adeagbo Ahmed0Olubankole Akinboboye1Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi2David Akintayo Oguntuase3 Department of Family Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria Department of Family Medicine, Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, NigeriaDepartment of Community Health, Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, NigeriaDepartment of Paediatrics, Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, NigeriaIntroduction: Home management of fever by caregivers is particularly relevant for ensuring effective care to under-five children in Sub-Saharan countries with high-transmission of malaria like Nigeria. Our study aimed to assess home management of fever among mothers and other caregivers of underfive children attending Federal Medical Centre in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out. A systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit participants (mothers and other caregivers). A structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used. Clinical findings and malaria test were performed on children using standard methods. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 15. Results: Prevalence of home treatment of fever was 98.4%. Most of the caregivers bought antifever drugs from patent medicine shops and only 11.9 % of them got a prescription drug from pharmacies. Despite good knowledge about causes of malaria by caregivers (72.6%) and a prompt medical treatment within 24 h of fever onset (84.2%), many of their children were treated with only paracetamol (45%) and, therefore, they presented to the hospital febrile (61.8%), tachycardic (63.7%), and tachypnoic (83.9%). Almost all of the children were diagnosed with malaria (98%) associated with some types of complication such as convulsion (29.6%) and anaemia (52.7%). Chi square test showed a significant (P < 0.005) difference between treatment modality (inpatient versus outpatient) with regards to educational level, type of caregivers, place of domicile, use of antimalarial in combination with paracetamol, and presence of complications. Discussion and Conclusion: In our study, home management of malaria by caregivers of under-five children was ineffective. Indeed, the effectiveness of home management of malaria depends not only on the early diagnosis, but also on a prompt and appropriate treatment. Therefore, proper health education programmes on this disease should be implemented among caregivers of under-five children.http://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss23_309-322.pdfAntimalarialsCaregiversChildFeverMalaria
spellingShingle Liasu Adeagbo Ahmed
Olubankole Akinboboye
Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi
David Akintayo Oguntuase
Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
Journal of Health and Social Sciences
Antimalarials
Caregivers
Child
Fever
Malaria
title Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
title_full Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
title_fullStr Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
title_short Home management of malaria among caregivers of under-five children in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria
title_sort home management of malaria among caregivers of under five children in owo ondo state nigeria
topic Antimalarials
Caregivers
Child
Fever
Malaria
url http://journalhss.com/wp-content/uploads/jhss23_309-322.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT liasuadeagboahmed homemanagementofmalariaamongcaregiversofunderfivechildreninowoondostatenigeria
AT olubankoleakinboboye homemanagementofmalariaamongcaregiversofunderfivechildreninowoondostatenigeria
AT olayinkastephenilesanmi homemanagementofmalariaamongcaregiversofunderfivechildreninowoondostatenigeria
AT davidakintayooguntuase homemanagementofmalariaamongcaregiversofunderfivechildreninowoondostatenigeria