Impact of health education intervention on insecticide treated nets uptake among nursing mothers in rural communities in Nigeria

BACKGROUND: ITN use is generally poor in Nigeria among all categories of people. Although use of ITNs has been shown to reduce malarial morbidity and mortality, this measure needs to be supported by an adequate healthcare system providing ITN possibly at the household level. This study was therefore designed to determine the effect of health education on the uptake of ITN among nursing mothers in rural communities in Nigeria. METHODS: The study design was a quasi-experimental study carried out in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State. A multistage random sampling technique was used in choosing the required samples for this study and a semi- structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information. The intervention consisted of a structured educational programme based on a course content adapted from the national malaria control programme. A total of 400 respondents were recruited into the study with 200 each in both the experimental and control groups and were followed up for a period of 3 months when the knowledge and uptake of ITN was reassessed. RESULT: There was no significant difference (P >0.05) observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of socio-dermographic characteristics such as age, marital status, religion, and income. The ITN ever users in experimental group were 59 [29.5%] and 138 [72.6%] in pre and post intervention period, respectively (p value =0.0001). These proportions of ITN ever users were 55 [27.5%] and 57 [31.6%] in control group, during the pre and post intervention periods (p = 0.37). Post health education intervention, degree of change in knowledge of ITN re-treatment [37.0%] and mounting [33.5%], readiness to use if given free [30.5%] and belief in efficacy [36.9%] improved significantly in the experimental group while there was no significant change in the control group [p = 0.84, 0.51, 0.68 &0.69 respectively]. Majority [89%] of the respondents were willing to buy ITN for between US$ 1.5 to US$ 3.0. There was no statistically significant change (P >0.05) despite intervention in the amount the respondents were willing to pay to own an ITN in both the experimental and control groups. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that the use of ITN in the study population was significantly increase by health education and that the free distribution of ITN may not guarantee its use. Uptake of ITN can be significantly improved in rural areas if the nets are made available and backed up with appropriate health education intervention.