MOTHERS' PERCEPTION AND HOME MANAGEMENT OF CHILDHOOD MALARIA IN NARAGUTA VILLAGE, JOS NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

A Structured questionnaire was administered to determine mothers' perception and home management of childhood malaria in Naraguta village of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. One hundred and fifty (150) mothers responded to questionnaire to determine their ability to accurately recognize signs and symptoms of malaria in children and their ability to manage the disease at home. 426 children whose mothers responded to the questionnaires were screened for malaria parasites by microscopy. 120 (80%) of the mothers had a clear understanding of the cause of malaria. 105(70%) of the mothers indicated fever was the major feature of childhood malaria. Visit to health facilities was the most preferred choice for source of treatment, 136(90.6%) of the mothers adopted this option. Out of the 426 children whose mothers were interviewed and who were screened for parasitemia, results of Laboratory analysis indicated 58 out of 426 children (13.6%) with prevalence of plasmodial infection. There was no- association between infection and the various children's age groups, indicating that the infection was not dependent on the age. In addition, there was no association between the mothers' age and perception of malaria. This proves that mothers' ability to accurately identify the signs and symptoms of malaria was not related to mothers' age but may be due to other factors such as level of education and exposure not measured during this study. The study indicated that mothers' perception played an important role in management of childhood malaria.