Background: General knowledge of at risk people regarding malaria is key element to facilitate appropriate treatment and prevention behaviours. The aim of this study was to assess the family heads' understanding of malaria transmission, signs and symptoms, and preventive measures in malaria-affected districts of Iran.
Method: In 2009 in a cluster randomized cross-sectional survey data were collected from the heads of 5,466 randomly selected households by trained interviewers and a validated questionnaire. Only one adult person was interviewed per household Once all the information collected and entered to the SPSS Ver. 18 analysis was done and descriptive statistics were used to summarize results. Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals were also estimated for indicators.
Results: 63.8% [95% CI: 62.2 - 65.4] of the participants recognized fever as a sign of malaria, 56.4% [95% CI: 54.6 - 58.2] reported that mosquito bites cause malaria and about 35% [95% CI: 32.7 - 37.1] of participants mentioned that the use of mosquito nets could prevent malaria. Furthermore, about one-third of selected samples in target districts did not know symptoms, transmission route and appropriate prevention method of malaria. Data also suggests a slight variation by residency, but substantial discrepancy according to the region.
Conclusions: General knowledge of respondents concerning malaria is too far from the levels required to be constructive for malaria elimination. Therefore, the survey suggests developing, and implementing effective health promotion policies to increase the awareness of households about the symptoms, transmission route and control measures of malaria.
Keywords: Iran; Knowledge; Malaria; Prevention.