Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice about malaria and ITNs utilization among pregnant women in Shashogo District, Southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Malaria causes variety of adverse consequences in pregnant women due to invasion of the placenta by Plasmodium. It increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome for the mother, the foetus and the new-born. Therefore, knowledge, attitudes and practices of this vulnerable group about malaria and the effective use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) contribute to sustainable control of the disease and its effects. METHODS: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out in May, 2014. A validated structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was analysed using logistic regression by means of STATA version 11 data analysis software. RESULTS: A total of 398 pregnant women participated in the study and their overall knowledge and attitude towards malaria and ITNs was fairly good; 74.3 % of the mothers had good knowledge and 51.1 % of them possessed positive attitude. Nevertheless, only 15.6 % of the mothers associated mosquitoes with malaria and majority of them (65.6 %) responded that it is transmitted due to poor personal hygiene and environmental sanitation. Younger age, receiving information and information obtained from health extension workers and media were found to be important predictors of pregnant women’s attitude (P < 0.05). The ITNs utilization was poor. Only 15.8 % of 398 mothers owned at least one ITN. This was due to its unavailability in markets and unsustainable distribution. More than half of the mothers who owned the ITNs did not have a number proportional to their family size, and 52 % of the mothers had not slept under bed net the previous night. This was due to its being dirty, old, had holes and in some cases lack of awareness on how to install it and its importance to prevent malaria. Higher education was identified as the determining factor for ITNs utilization (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Even though the pregnant mothers’ knowledge and attitude about malaria and ITNs was fairly good, its ownership and utilization was noticeably very low. Therefore, consistent and timely distribution by the government and other funding agencies is promptly needed. In addition, appropriate health education should be given on the link between malaria and mosquito, regular and correct use of ITNs with special focus to uneducated and elderly mothers.