Aliyu A A, Alti-Mu'azu M
Department of Community Medicine, A.B.U., Zaria, Nigeria.
Ann Afr Med. 2009 Apr-Jun;8(2):85-9. doi: 10.4103/1596-3519.56234.
Despite malaria being the largest public health problem in Africa South of Sahara with over one million associated deaths each year, there has been little progress in its prevention/control during the past decades. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude, use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and the prevalence of malaria episodes among boarding secondary school pupils in Zaria, Nigeria.
A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample five (5) secondary schools within Zaria, from which six classes (JSS 1 - 3 and SS 1- 3) of respondents were then randomly selected. Structured, closed-ended self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and use of ITNs, reasons for non-use and malaria episodes in last 12 months.
A total of 150 students from the five (5) boarding secondary schools were interviewed, majority were in the age group 15-17 (53.3%) with a mean (x) SD of 16.8 0.8 years. Males were 60% and females 40% of respondents. Majority of the respondents (87.3%) knew about and had actually seen an ITN; only 43.3% were current users. Most of the current users of ITN noticed a significant reduction in malaria episodes in the last 12 months. This was statistically significant (P=0.004). Cost and availability were reasons sited by non-ITN users.
There is urgent need on the part of all the three tiers of Government for public health awareness campaigns through information, education and communication (IEC) to create positive ITN culture and usage. It is also suggested that ITN usage among boarding school pupils should be incorporated into school health service.
尽管疟疾是撒哈拉以南非洲最大的公共卫生问题，每年有超过100万人与之相关死亡，但在过去几十年里其预防/控制方面进展甚微。因此，本研究旨在确定尼日利亚扎里亚寄宿制中学学生对疟疾的知识、态度、经杀虫剂处理蚊帐（ITN）的使用情况以及疟疾发作的患病率。
采用多阶段抽样技术从扎里亚的五所中学中抽取样本，然后从这些学校中随机选择六个班级（初一至初三和高一至高三）的受访者。使用结构化、封闭式的自填问卷收集有关人口统计学特征、对疟疾的知识、态度、ITN的使用情况、未使用的原因以及过去12个月内疟疾发作情况的信息。
共对来自五所寄宿制中学的150名学生进行了访谈，大多数学生年龄在15 - 17岁（53.3%），平均年龄（x）标准差为16.8 ± 0.8岁。受访者中男性占60%，女性占40%。大多数受访者（87.3%）知道并实际见过ITN；只有43.3%是当前使用者。大多数当前使用ITN的人注意到在过去12个月里疟疾发作次数显著减少。这具有统计学意义（P = 0.004）。未使用ITN的人提到成本和可获得性是原因。
政府所有三个层级迫切需要通过信息、教育和宣传（IEC）开展公共卫生意识运动，以营造积极的ITN文化和使用习惯。还建议将寄宿制学校学生使用ITN纳入学校卫生服务。
