Etukudoh Nkereuwem, Akpan Emmanuel, Ocheola-Oki Joyce, Essiet Akanimo, Udo Cecilia, Akpan Hilary, Mantu Eno, Eggon Emmanuel, Umondak Uduakobong
Department of Haematology, Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos, Nigeria.
Department of Basic Sciences, Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos, Nigeria.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):23395. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-89320-6.
This study assesses knowledge of malaria diagnosis and prevention, examining how awareness of low malaria transmission influences diagnostic and preventive practices for malaria elimination. A cross-sectional study of sample size of 600 was conducted among staff from Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos; Plateau State College of Health Technology, Zawan, and Federal College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom in Plateau State, Nigeria, between March and June 2023 to gather information on the knowledge of malaria, malaria diagnosis, and malaria prevention. Plateau State is located in the North Central region of Nigeria at 9° 10' N 9° 45' E coordinates. The study explored the logistic regression analysis to assess the association between low transmission, knowledge diagnosis, and malaria prevention; also applied correlation analysis to assess the relationship between low transmission, knowledge diagnosis, and malaria prevention. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. Results showed that 97.33% of participants had heard of malaria, with hospital workers being the main information source (38%). Stagnant water was identified as the primary mosquito breeding site (80%), and fever with shivering/sweating was the most recognized symptom (45.33%). Notably, 66.67% of participants were unaware of low malaria transmission levels and associated elimination challenges. Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) emerged as the best-known prevention method (41.67%), followed by antimalarial drugs (27.5%), Indoors residual spraying (18.33%), and use of mosquito repellent (12.5%) while 63.33% were unaware of malaria vaccines. The study found significant positive correlations between awareness of low malaria transmission and malaria prevention (r = 0.225, P = 0.001) and diagnosis (r = 0403, P < 0.001); (r = 0.330, P < 0.001) across the different institutions. Further findings from multivariate logistic regression showed that participants with improved awareness of low levels of malaria transmission have higher odds of having increased knowledge of malaria diagnosis and higher odds of having increased knowledge of malaria prevention. Specifically, for FCMLST, the participants with improved awareness of low levels of malaria transmission have 35.0% higher odds of having increased knowledge of malaria diagnosis and 66.4% higher odds of having increased knowledge of malaria prevention. Similar findings were also observed for the other two institutions. The results demonstrate that improved awareness of low malaria transmission significantly increases the likelihood of better diagnostic knowledge and preventive practices thus underscoring the critical role of awareness in malaria elimination efforts, highlighting the significant link between low malaria transmission levels and enhanced knowledge of malaria diagnosis and prevention. These findings highlight the need for targeted education campaigns to bridge knowledge gaps in malaria prevention and elimination.
本研究评估了疟疾诊断和预防知识，考察了对低疟疾传播的认知如何影响疟疾消除的诊断和预防措施。2023年3月至6月期间，在尼日利亚高原州乔斯的联邦医学检验技术学院、扎万的高原州卫生技术学院以及沃姆的联邦兽医和医学检验技术学院的工作人员中开展了一项样本量为600的横断面研究，以收集有关疟疾知识、疟疾诊断和疟疾预防的信息。高原州位于尼日利亚中北部地区，坐标为北纬9°10′、东经9°45′。该研究采用逻辑回归分析来评估低传播、知识诊断和疟疾预防之间的关联；还应用了相关分析来评估低传播、知识诊断和疟疾预防之间的关系。数据使用SPSS 25版进行分析，显著性水平设定为p < 0.05。结果显示，97.33%的参与者听说过疟疾，医院工作人员是主要信息来源（38%）。积水被确定为主要的蚊子繁殖地（80%），寒战/出汗伴发热是最被认可的症状（45.33%）。值得注意的是，66.67%的参与者不知道低疟疾传播水平及相关的消除挑战。经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐（ITNs）是最广为人知的预防方法（41.67%），其次是抗疟药物（27.5%）、室内滞留喷洒（18.33%）和使用驱蚊剂（12.5%），而63.33%的人不知道疟疾疫苗。该研究发现，在不同机构中，对低疟疾传播的认知与疟疾预防（r = 0.225，P = 0.001）和诊断（r = 0.403，P < 0.001）；（r = 0.330，P < 0.001）之间存在显著正相关。多变量逻辑回归的进一步结果显示，对低水平疟疾传播认知提高的参与者更有可能增加疟疾诊断知识，也更有可能增加疟疾预防知识。具体而言，对于联邦医学检验技术学院，对低水平疟疾传播认知提高的参与者增加疟疾诊断知识的可能性高35.0%，增加疟疾预防知识的可能性高66.4%。其他两个机构也观察到了类似的结果。结果表明，提高对低疟疾传播的认知显著增加了获得更好诊断知识和预防措施的可能性，从而强调了认知在疟疾消除工作中的关键作用，突出了低疟疾传播水平与增强疟疾诊断和预防知识之间的重要联系。这些发现凸显了开展有针对性的教育活动以弥合疟疾预防和消除方面知识差距的必要性。
