Chukwuocha Uchechukwu Madukaku, Okpanma Austin C, Nwakwuo Geoffrey Chima, Dozie Ikechukwu Nosike Simplicius
Department of Public Health Technology, School of Health Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B 1526, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria,
J Community Health. 2014 Dec;39(6):1171-8. doi: 10.1007/s10900-014-9872-4.
One of the components of the current WHO strategy to fight malaria is early recognition and prompt and appropriate treatment. We investigated determinants of delay in seeking early and appropriate malaria treatment for children (0-5 years) in Ohaji/Egbema, South Eastern Nigeria. Data was collected using structured pre-tested questionnaires elicited in the local language (Igbo) to 738 consenting mothers within the child bearing age (15-49 years). About twenty-two percent (22%) of the respondents sought treatment within 24 h for their children with malaria and were excluded from further investigation. More than half of the remaining respondents (51.5%) delayed in seeking treatment because they had to watch their children for some days, while 21.4% were due to financial difficulties. The age, parity, marital status/type of marriage and educational attainment of the mothers including family social-economic status were found to be statistically related to delay in seeking appropriate treatment (P < 0.05). Wrong first line treatment choices by the respondents also contributed to this delay. These results underscore the need to improve awareness of mothers and caregivers on the need and ways of seeking early, appropriate and effective treatment for their children who have malaria. This is very important if the WHO strategy of early recognition, prompt and appropriate treatment is to be effective so as to sufficiently reduce mortality and morbidity due to malaria among children in endemic rural areas. It will also aid in the proper management and treatment of other childhood febrile illnesses.
世界卫生组织当前抗击疟疾战略的组成部分之一是早期识别以及迅速且恰当的治疗。我们调查了尼日利亚东南部奥哈吉/埃格贝马地区0至5岁儿童寻求早期恰当疟疾治疗延误的决定因素。使用以当地语言（伊博语）预先测试过的结构化问卷，对738名育龄期（15至49岁）同意参与的母亲进行了数据收集。约22%的受访者在孩子患疟疾后24小时内就寻求了治疗，这些人被排除在进一步调查之外。其余受访者中超过一半（51.5%）延误寻求治疗是因为他们得观察孩子几天，而21.4%是由于经济困难。母亲的年龄、胎次、婚姻状况/婚姻类型、教育程度以及家庭社会经济地位在统计学上与寻求恰当治疗的延误相关（P < 0.05）。受访者错误的一线治疗选择也导致了这种延误。这些结果强调有必要提高母亲和照料者对于为患疟疾的孩子寻求早期、恰当且有效治疗的必要性及方式的认识。如果世界卫生组织早期识别、迅速且恰当治疗的战略要取得成效，从而充分降低农村流行地区儿童因疟疾导致的死亡率和发病率，这一点非常重要。这也将有助于对其他儿童发热性疾病进行妥善管理和治疗。
