Factors Influencing Usage Of Insecticide Treated Bed Nets In The Sunyani West District

ABSTRACT Background: Although several strategies including large scale deployment of ITNs have been implemented by various stakeholders including the Ghana Health Service to fight malaria, the disease remains the leading cause of morbidity in the Sunyani West district. The study determined the level of household ownership and utilization of ITNs and associated factors in the Sunyani West District. Methods: The Sunyani West district has five sub districts. These sub districts served as the strata. In every sub district, all the communities were numbered and random number generator used to select one community each. After these five communities have been selected from the sub districts, the sample size was shared proportionately per the population of the community. Systematic sampling method was used to select household participants using community registers as sample frame. Pregnant women were identified through snowball sampling. Results: The study revealed that 78.93% of household respondents and 86.74% of pregnant women had at least one net but usage was 48.54% (CI: 43.39-53.71) for pregnant women and 69.06% (CI: 65.03-72.89) among under-fives. Use of other malaria prevention methods [AOR = 0.009, 95%CI (0.003-0.026)], partner influence [AOR = 0.68, 95%CI (0.140-0.359)] and receipt of free nets [AOR = 4.83, 95%CI (2.585-9.035)] were associated usage. About 30% of the study population used other malaria prevention methods to protect themselves against malaria. Conclusion: ITN ownership was high but ITN use among pregnant women and children was lower than the expected levels of 85%. Among household respondents, receipt of free net and the use of other methods influenced ITN use. Partner influence reduced net use among pregnant women. Exposure to media messages and mass distribution of ITNs promoted net use at the community level.