ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE REGARDING MALARIA PREVENTION TOWARDS INTERNAL MIGRANT POPULATION IN KAWTHOUNG TOWNSHIP, KAWTHOUNG DISTRICT, TANINTHARYI REGION, MYANMAR: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Since malaria is preventable disease, early diagnosis and effective treatment of malaria is necessary for optimal outcome. For people living in high transmission of malaria areas such as in Kawthoung Township, it is crucial for them to have good knowledge, attitude and practice toward malaria prevention. This study was aimed to assess and describe the socio-demographic factors, knowledge, attitude and practice towards malaria prevention in internal migrant people, Kawthoung Township, Kawthoung District, Myanmar. Research design was cross-sectional study which Three hundred and sixteen respondents who age range from 18 to 65 years old were interviewed face to face with structure questionnaire and collected the data. Chi-square and logistic regression were used to analyze association between dependent and independent variable. From the results, it showed that 65.5% had good knowledge, 17.4% had good attitude and 49.1% had good practice for malaria prevention. Practice level was strongly associated with knowledge level and attitude level (P-value <0.001). Factors associated with good practice were respondents with age group 45 to 54 years (P-value = 0.004, AOR = 7.478, 95% CI: 1.930-28.978, high school or higher education (P = 0.021, AOR = 11.363, 95% CI: 1.454- 88.814) income more than 200000 kyats per month (P-value <0.001, AOR = 14.242, 95% CI: 3.240-62.608), less than 3 family members (P-value = 0.005, AOR = 4.670, 95% CI: 1.576- 13.834), accessibility to health facility with less than 30 minutes (P-value <0.001, AOR = 122.092, 95% CI: 20.339-732.915), source of information by government health staffs (P-value = 0.010, AOR = 8.293, 95% CI:1.669-41.211) and good attitude level (P-value = 0.017, AOR = 6.089, 95% CI:1.387-26.739). Community mobilization activities regarding malaria prevention through Volunteer Malaria Workers and government health staff were necessary in order to improve knowledge, attitude and practice regarding malaria prevention practice.