Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Jul 22:5:60.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-5-60.

Treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria in children under five years of age: implication for home management in rural areas with high seasonal transmission in Sudan

Elfatih Mohamed Malik  1 , Kamal Hanafi, Salah Hussein Ali, Eldirdieri Salim Ahmed, Khalid Awad Mohamed
Affiliations

Treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria in children under five years of age: implication for home management in rural areas with high seasonal transmission in Sudan

Elfatih Mohamed Malik et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

Background: Effective management of malaria in children under the age of 5 requires mothers to seek, obtain, and use medication appropriately. This is linked to timely decision, accessibility, correct use of the drugs and follow-up. The aim of the study is to identify the basis on which fever was recognized and classified and exploring factors involved in selection of different treatment options.

Methods: Data was obtained by interviewing 96 mothers who had brought their febrile children to selected health facilities, conduction of 10 focus group discussions with mothers at village level as well as by observation.

Results: A high score of mothers' knowledge and recognition of fever/malaria was recorded. Mothers usually start care at home and, within an average of three days, they shift to health workers if there was no response. The main health-seeking behaviour is to consult the nearest health facility or health personnel together with using traditional medicine or herbs. There are also health workers who visit patients at home. The majority of mothers with febrile children reported taking drugs before visiting a health facility. The choice between the available options determined by the availability of health facilities, user fees, satisfaction with services, difficulty to reach the facilities and believe in traditional medicine.

Conclusion: Mothers usually go through different treatment option before consulting health facilities ending with obvious delay in seeking care. As early effective treatment is the main theme of the control programme, implementation of malaria home management strategy is urgently needed to improve the ongoing practice.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. WHO/EMRO . Roll Back Malaria in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. WHO; 2001. unpublished document. WHO-EM/MAL/273/E/G/12.01/3000.
    1. WHO . Malaria control today: Current WHO Recommendations. RBM Department; WHO, Geneva; 2005.
    1. Armstrong Schellenberg JR, Nathan R, Abdulla S, Mukasa O, Marchant TJ, Tanner M, Lengeler C. Risk factors for child mortality in rural Tanzania. Trop Med Int Health. 2002;7:506–511. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.2002.00888.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Oberlander L, Elverdan B. Malaria in the United Republic of Tanzania: cultural considerations and health-seeking behaviour. Bull World Health Organ. 2000;78:1352–1357. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miguel CA, Manderson L, Lansang MA. Patterns of treatment for malaria in Tayabas, the Philippines: implications for control. Trop Med Int Health. 1998;3:413–421. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.1998.00249.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types