Andabet District, Public Health Emergency Management officer, Amhara National Regional Health Bureau, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sceince, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
BMJ Open. 2024 Nov 28;14(11):e087888. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087888.
This study aimed to assess the prevalence of delayed treatment seeking and its associated factors among patients with malaria in the Andabet district, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022.
An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 8 July 2022 to 21 August 2022. Data were collected from malaria patients using structured and pretested questionnaires and entered using Epi data V.4.6 and analysed by using Stata SE V.14. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify the factors associated with delay seeking treatment among malaria patients. P values less than 0.05 with 95% CI and adjusted OR (AOR) were considered statistically significant.
The study was conducted in the Andabet district, Northwest Ethiopia.
A total of 403 malaria patients participated in this study. The sample was allocated proportionally for the six health centres and participants were selected through systematic random sampling techniques.
The primary outcome is the prevalence of delay in seeking malaria treatment.
A total of 403 malaria patients with a mean age of 27.6±SD 14.26 years were included in this study. The prevalence of delayed malaria treatment seeking was 78.41% (95% CI 74.11%, 82.17%). Do not know the cause of malaria (AOR=2.24, 95% CI (1.07, 4.65)), do not know malaria signs and symptoms (AOR=2.52, 95% CI (1.04, 6.07)), distance greater than 5 km travelled (AOR=5.37, 95% CI (1.22, 23.55)) and fear of treatment cost (AOR=1.88, 95% CI (1.05, 3.36)) were the statistically significant factors associated with delayed treatment seeking among malaria patients.
The prevalence of delayed malaria treatment was high. Lack of knowledge of the cause of malaria, lack of knowledge of malaria signs and symptoms, a distance greater than 5 km travelled and fear of treatment cost were significantly associated with delayed malaria treatment seeking. Therefore, community awareness of early treatment is crucial.
本研究旨在评估 2022 年在埃塞俄比亚西北部的安达贝特地区，疟疾患者延迟寻求治疗的情况及其相关因素。
这是一项基于机构的横断面研究，于 2022 年 7 月 8 日至 8 月 21 日进行。使用结构化和预测试问卷从疟疾患者那里收集数据，并使用 Epi data V.4.6 录入，使用 Stata SE V.14 进行分析。使用单变量和多变量逻辑回归分析来确定与疟疾患者延迟寻求治疗相关的因素。具有 95%置信区间和调整后的 OR (AOR) 的 P 值<0.05 被认为具有统计学意义。
这项研究在埃塞俄比亚西北部的安达贝特地区进行。
共有 403 名疟疾患者参与了这项研究。样本按比例分配给六个卫生中心，参与者通过系统随机抽样技术选择。
主要结局是延迟寻求疟疾治疗的流行率。
本研究共纳入 403 名平均年龄为 27.6±14.26 岁的疟疾患者。延迟寻求疟疾治疗的比例为 78.41%（95%CI 74.11%，82.17%）。不知道疟疾的原因（AOR=2.24，95%CI（1.07，4.65））、不知道疟疾的症状和体征（AOR=2.52，95%CI（1.04，6.07））、距离大于 5 公里（AOR=5.37，95%CI（1.22，23.55））和担心治疗费用（AOR=1.88，95%CI（1.05，3.36））是与疟疾患者延迟治疗相关的有统计学意义的因素。
延迟疟疾治疗的比例较高。缺乏对疟疾病因的了解、缺乏对疟疾症状和体征的了解、距离大于 5 公里以及担心治疗费用与延迟寻求疟疾治疗显著相关。因此，提高社区对早期治疗的认识至关重要。
