Author
Santos, Ellen MCoalson, Jenna E
Jacobs, Elizabeth T
Klimentidis, Yann C
Munga, Stephen
Agawo, Maurice
Anderson, Elizabeth
Stroupe, Nancy
Ernst, Kacey C
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Mel & Enid Zuckerman Coll Publ HlthIssue Date
2019-08-14
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BMCCitation
Santos, E. M., Coalson, J. E., Jacobs, E. T., Klimentidis, Y. C., Munga, S., Agawo, M., ... & Ernst, K. C. (2019). Bed net care practices and associated factors in western Kenya. Malaria journal, 18(1), 1-12.Journal
MALARIA JOURNALRights
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons .org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Background Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are effective for malaria prevention and are designed to provide nearly 5 years of mosquito protection. However, many ITNs and LLINs become damaged and ineffective for mosquito bite prevention within 1 to 2 years in field conditions. Non-adherence to recommended bed net care and repair practices may partially explain this shortened net longevity. Methods Using data from a cross-sectional study, a net care adherence score was developed and adherence to net care practices described from two regions of western Kenya. Relationships between attitudes and environmental factors that influence net longevity were measured with adherence to bed net care practices. Results While overall care practices are highly adherent particularly in the highlands, practices related to daily storage, washing frequency, and drying location need improvement in the lowlands. Seventy-seven percent of nets in the lowlands were washed < 3 months prior to the survey compared to 23% of nets in the highlands. More nets were dried in the sun in the lowlands (32% of nets) compared to the highlands (4% of nets). Different elements of care are influenced by various malaria attitudes and environmental factors, highlighting the complexity of factors associated with net care. For example, households that learned about net care from community events, that share a sleeping structure with animals, and that have nets used by adult males tend to adhere to washing frequency recommendations. Conclusions In western Kenya, many nets are cared for in accordance to recommended practices, particularly in the highlands sites. In the lowlands, demonstrating methods at community events to tie nets up during the day coupled with messaging to emphasize infrequent washing and drying nets in the shade may be an appropriate intervention. As illustrated by differences between the highlands and lowlands sites in the present study, should interventions to improve adherence to bed net care practices be necessary, they should be context-specific.Note
Open access journalISSN
1475-2875PubMed ID
31412865Version
Final published versionSponsors
NIH/NIAID [R15 Al100118-01]ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1186/s12936-019-2908-6
Scopus Count
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