Availability And Use Of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test In Health Facilities In Gomoa West District, Ghana

ABSTRACT Introduction: Malaria is a major cause of ill-health and death particularly among pregnant women and children under 5 years. Every year about 300 to 500 million cases of malaria and 1 to 3 million deaths are reported globally of which 90% occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Prompt and accurate diagnosis is key in managing malaria. Drawbacks regarding microscopy use have made the introduction of malaria RDT key in the strategy for scaling up malaria control. Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess availability and use of malaria RDT in health facilities in the Gomoa West district and investigate adherence patterns of clinicians to the incorporation of malaria RDT results in their case management. Method: A cross sectional study was carried out in selected health facilities to review stock tally cards for malaria RDT, and to assess malaria RDT availability over one year period. A pretested data extraction sheet was used to extract data on the proportions of suspected malaria cases tested with malaria RDTs. A structured questionnaire was also administered to prescribers to collect data on adherence to RDT use and incorporation of RDT results in their case management. Data were analyzed and chi square test was used to assess associations. Fisher’s exact test was used when a cell has a population less than 5. Detailed analysis was done with logistic regression model to assess strength of associations. Results: The least malaria RDT availability of 87.7% was recorded in 3 health facilities. Three health facilities recorded 100% availability. Overall, 256(73.6%) out of 348 suspected malaria cases were tested with malaria RDT. No significant associations were found between malaria RDT testing and age (below 5 years and 5 years and above), temperature and caseload per day. However there was a significant association between facility type and malaria RDT testing (p value