Treatment Practices For Malaria In Small Children By Caregivers In The Wassa West District Of Ghana

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted in 5 randomly selected communities in the Wassa West district

in the Western region of Ghana using both qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain

mothers or caregiver’s knowledge on symptoms of childhood malaria (uncomplicated and

complicated) in children under five years of age in relation to its management. A total of

300 caregivers were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Majority of the

respondents were mothers constituting 79%. Although the study population was made up

of different ethnic groups, the local term used to represent a cluster of symptoms

synonymous with the clinical diagnosis of malaria was “ebun" or "fever” which were

used interchangeably. All mothers or caregivers named one or more signs by which they

recognized the disease. The percentage of mothers or caregivers who perceived

symptoms of malaria in small children to be fever was found to be 91%. Fever (hot

body), vomiting and loss of appetite were the three most common signs mentioned.

Although 89% of mothers or caregivers had access to a health facility, this does not

appear to influence their treatment seeking behaviour. This is indicated by the fact that as

many as 60% managed their child’s disease at home and used both traditional and

modem treatment. The commonest anti-malaria drug was chloroquine. This is a

significant finding considering the upsurge of chloroquine resistance, although

chloroquine is still currently Ghana’s official first line drug for treating malaria. 74.8% of

mothers or caregivers treated children under-5 years with malaria at home for 3 days.

Poverty was a major factor that encouraged home treatment as confirmed by the fact that

55% of them treated their ill children at home because they had no money to send the

child to hospital. The delay in seeking early appropriate treatment may be the cause of the

high under-5 mortality. Higher level of education of mothers or caregivers was

significantly associated with promptness of sending their sick children to clinic/hospital

at the onset of the illness. However, in the event child did not recover with selfmedication,

85% of mothers or caregivers would send their children with malaria to clinic

or hospital. The results of the study call for prompt educational action targeting mothers

for the correct treatment of both complicated and uncomplicated malaria in children

under-5 years.