Altering of the sprayed wall after indoor residual spraying and associated factors among households in Boricha district, Sidama regional state, Ethiopia, 2019: community-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Indoor residual spraying (IRS) has been the main tool used to control malaria. Reducing the life span and the density of the vector mosquitoes are direct effects of IRS towards restricting malaria transmission. Residents must not wash or re-plaster walls after the spray application for at least 6 months to fight against malaria with IRS. This study sought to assess the alteration of the sprayed wall after the IRS operation and associated factors among households in the Boricha district. METHODS: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 608 households selected using multi-stage sampling. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analysed by SPSS version 25. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was done. Finally, the strength of the association was measured based on AOR with 95% CI and statistical significance was declared at a p-value less than 0.05. RESULT: From the total of 608 sprayed houses included in the study, 37.3% (95% CI: 33.41% – 41.15%) were found to have altered sprayed walls. The highest class of wealth index category (AOR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.19, 5.16), low level of comprehensive knowledge about IRS (AOR = 6.08; 95% CI: 3.37, 10.94), did not get information within 2 weeks before spray (AOR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.43, 3.05), absence of supervision after the spray operation (AOR = 1.77; 95% CI: 1.27, 2.73) and walking distance to nearest health facility (AOR = 2.39; 95% CI: 1.63, 3.35) remained significant factors of altering of the sprayed wall after IRS. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of alteration was relatively high. The highest socio-economic status, poor knowledge about indoor residual spraying, lack of information about IRS within two weeks before spray, absence of supervision after IRS, and walking distance of more than 30 min to reach the nearest health post were the factors affecting the alteration status of the sprayed wall. Future efforts to focus on successive awareness creation activities should be done before and after IRS operation to the community by concerned bodies.