Ethnic Variation and Its Association With Malaria Awareness: A Cross-sectional Study in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated associations between ethnicity and malaria awareness in East Nusa Tenggara Province (ENTP), Indonesia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted upon 1503 adults recruited by multi-stage cluster random sampling. A malaria awareness questionnaire was used to collect data, according to which participants were classified as aware or unaware of malaria. Logistic regression was applied to quantify the strength of associations of factors with malaria awareness. RESULTS: The participation rate in this study was high (99.5%). The participants were distributed relatively evenly among the Manggarai, Atoni, and Sumba ethnicities (33.0, 32.3, and 30.2%, respectively). Malaria awareness was significantly different amongst these groups; it was most common in the Manggarai ethnicity (65.1%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 59.9 to 70.3) and least common in the Sumba ethnicity (35.0%; 95% CI, 27.6 to 42.4). The most prominent factor influencing the malaria awareness in the Sumba and Manggarai ethnicities was education level, whilst it was socioeconomic status (SES) in the Atoni ethnicity. The likelihood of malaria awareness was significantly higher in adults with an education level of diploma or above (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 21.4; 95% CI, 3.59 to 127.7 for Manggarai; aOR, 6.94; 95% CI, 1.81 to 26.6 for Sumba). Malaria awareness was significantly more common amongst high-SES adults in the Atoni group (aOR, 24.48; 95% CI, 8.79 to 68.21). CONCLUSIONS: Low education levels and low SES were prominent contributors to lower levels of malaria awareness in rural ENTP. Interventions should focus on improving malaria awareness to these groups to support the Indonesian government’s national commitment to achieve a malaria elimination zone by 2030.