Abstract
Background:
Malaria is one the major health problem in Nigeria. During pregnancy, it poses serious threat to the
survival of both unborn
f
o
etus
and the mothers. This study determined the effect of adequate malaria knowledge and
pregnancy status of women on use of mos
quito nets and reported malaria fever morbidity.
Methods
:
The data were collected during the Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) from 4632 women. Data analyses were
carried out with descriptive statistics and Seemingly Unrelated Bivariate Probit regression.
Results
:
Results show that 13.19% of the women were pregnant, of which about one
-
third slept under mosquito nets.
Also, 25.26% reported malaria associated fever in the previous two weeks to the time of interview, while 78.28% co
r-
rectly answered that mosqui
toes are responsible for malaria. Knowledge on malaria prevention was low with 55.70%
and 14.93% indicating sleeping under mosquito nets and ITN, respectively. Probability of sleeping under mosquito
nets significantly increased with knowing that sleeping u
nder mosquito nets and ITN could prevent malaria while it
decreased with having fever, age, urban residence and knowing that use of mosquito spray and coil can prevent mala
r-
ia. The probability of having fever increased significantly with household size, be
ing pregnant and age at first birth but
decreased with age, knowing that sleeping under ITN, cutting grasses and closing door/windows would prevent m
a-
la
r
ia.
Conclusions
:
Use of mosquito nets among the women was low. Also, efforts to enhance their knowledg
e on malaria
prevention and ensuring adequate access to mosquito nets especially for pregnant women would curtail the impact of
malaria.