Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) about Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) usage against Malaria in Kolla Tembien district, Tigray, Ethiopia

Optimal use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria in a community depends on vector behavior, mass distribution, knowledge and willingness of people to use the nets. This study was aimed at evaluating knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about ITNs at household level in rural sub-distracts of Kolla Tembien. For this purpose, interview questionnaire containing KAP variables were administered to the randomly selected household heads. A total of 368 householdswere surveyed, and 70.10 % of the respondents were females. The X number of occupants in the households surveyed was found to be 5.50. However, the X number of ITNs owned by thehouseholds was found to be 1.07. Most of the respondents (82.34%) indicated ITNs prevent malaria through protection from mosquito bites. Seventy six percent of the respondents claimed children < 5 years of age should be given priority to sleep under ITN in the household. Only few respondents, 1.63%, considered pregnant women as priority groups to sleep under ITNs. Furthermore, about 63% of the respondents showed their willingness to buy ITNs if they are affordable. The responses by male and female household heads to most of the KAP questions were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Out of the 260 nets inspected for usage and physical condition during the survey period, more than 50% were kept in a box or other container in the households. Nets that were graded as clean and very dirty accounted for 25% and 25.77%, respectively. Physical inspection of the randomly sampled nets also revealed holes ranging from those that didn’t allow a thumb to pass through ( X number = 3.47) to those that were wider than a closed fist ( X number = 1.64). The over all knowledge, attitude and practice of ITN usage was found to be satisfactory in the study district. However, the occupant net ratio must benarrowed and attention needs to be given to malaria vulnerable groups in the household. Continuous monitoring and evaluation of net usage after distribution should be instituted to avoid misuses and associated net damages in the study areas.