Govere J, Durrheim D, la Grange K, Mabuza A, Booman M
S Afr Med J. 2000 Jun;90(6):611-6.
To assess community knowledge and perceptions about malaria and its control in a rural setting.
Descriptive cross-sectional survey.
Tonga district with a population of 116,418, seasonal malaria with an annual incidence of 3,200 cases.
Female heads of 299 randomly selected households.
A total of 299 households were selected from a random sample of 30 clusters. Community knowledge and perceptions about malaria and its control were assessed by interviews with the female head of each of the 299 selected households.
Respondents ranked malaria as the third most serious health problem facing the community after TB and AIDS. Seventy-two per cent (214/299) of respondents reported that they knew what malaria disease was and of these, 92.1% (197/214) mentioned mosquito bites as the cause of malaria. The respondents' understanding of the causal role of mosquitoes in malaria was significantly related to their knowledge about disease symptoms (P < 0.001). Reported community compliance with the malaria control programme (MCP) was satisfactory; 86.6% (259/299) of respondents reported that their homes had been sprayed during the past 2 years but 10.0% (30/299) did not know why homes were sprayed. Hospitals or clinics were the facilities where respondents most commonly sought treatment for fever; 66.9% (200/299) reported that they would seek treatment immediately after the onset of high fever. Specific practices such as replastering or washing of inside walls compromised the effectiveness of the MCP. Personal preventive measures were sometimes used against malaria (50.8%, 152/299) and use was positively associated with education level (P = 0.001). Respondents expressed their desire for more information about malaria and their willingness to contribute to the control of malaria in their community.
The survey collected information which was directly relevant to the development of health education messages to increase community awareness of the problem of malaria, to emphasise the importance of early diagnosis and prompt treatment of malaria, to improve community understanding of the function of indoor residual spraying, and to enlighten the population of the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission and the availability and benefits of personal protection measures against mosquito bites.
评估农村地区社区对疟疾及其防治的认知和看法。
描述性横断面调查。
汤加区，人口116,418，季节性疟疾，年发病率3200例。
随机抽取的299户家庭的女性户主。
从30个群组的随机样本中选取299户家庭。通过对299户被选家庭的女性户主进行访谈，评估社区对疟疾及其防治的认知和看法。
受访者将疟疾列为继结核病和艾滋病之后社区面临的第三大严重健康问题。72%（214/299）的受访者表示知道疟疾是什么病，其中92.1%（197/214）提到蚊虫叮咬是疟疾的病因。受访者对蚊子在疟疾中的致病作用的理解与他们对疾病症状的了解显著相关（P<0.001）。报告显示社区对疟疾控制项目（MCP）的依从性令人满意；86.6%（259/299）的受访者表示其房屋在过去两年内已进行过喷洒，但10.0%（30/299）的人不知道房屋为何要进行喷洒。医院或诊所是受访者最常因发热寻求治疗的场所；66.9%（200/299）的受访者表示高热一出现就会立即寻求治疗。诸如重新涂抹或清洗内墙等具体做法会影响疟疾控制项目的效果。有时会采取个人预防措施预防疟疾（50.8%，152/299），且采取预防措施与教育水平呈正相关（P = 0.001）。受访者表示希望获得更多有关疟疾的信息，并愿意为社区疟疾防治做出贡献。
该调查收集的信息与制定健康教育信息直接相关，以提高社区对疟疾问题的认识，强调疟疾早期诊断和及时治疗的重要性，增进社区对室内滞留喷洒作用的理解，并使民众了解蚊子在疟疾传播中的作用以及个人防蚊叮咬保护措施的可用性和益处。
