Determinants of malaria prevention and control at household level in Assam: An analysis of data using composite index

Background

Malaria prevention and control is a major public health problem of tropical countries including India. Usage of insecticide-treated bed nets, and early treatment especially in high-risk areas are the crucial factors for the malaria prevention at household levels. This study aimed to determine the crucial factors associated with malaria prevention at households' level such as household's characteristics, education, knowledge and awareness, insecticide treated bed nets usage, early treatment etc.

Methods

Data of 1989 households was used from the cross-sectional survey of malaria-endemic areas of Assam. Principal component analysis and multinomial logistic regression model were used to compute the composite scores of malaria awareness and prevention practices, and to estimate the associated factors with malaria prevention practices, respectively.

Results

The average age of household respondents were 41.1 ± 12.0 years and among them 71% were males. Almost 47% respondents were illiterate, and 38.6% of the respondents were farmers and 35% were employed. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicates that malaria prevention practices are associated with age, education, religion, type of house and occupation of household heads and their level of malaria awareness among them. The prevention practices were significantly five times associated [Adjusted Rates Ratio (ARR): 5.0, 95% CI: 2.7-9.4] with the high level of malaria awareness compared with the low level of awareness. Overall, the level of prevention awareness, education, occupation, and house type related to the standard of living was significantly associated with the malaria prevention practices.

Conclusion

Malaria awareness and education are the key factors of malaria prevention practices that need to be accelerated for effective control of malaria. Malaria education and increasing awareness of people have a high impact on malaria prevention practices and their control.

Stroke related knowledge, prevention practices and associated factors among stroke patients in Taizhou, China

Stroke is characterized by high morbidity, high mortality and high disability rate, which is a major health problem worldwide. However, most community-based studies report a lack of public knowledge related to stroke. The aim of this study is to investigate stroke-related knowledge and prevention practices among stroke patients in Taizhou, China. A face-to-face survey was conducted and questionnaires were completed by 156 S patients from June 27 to August 30, 2022. A generalized linear model was applied to explore the factors influencing prevention practices. Among the total participants, 36.5% and 40.4% of them had good knowledge of the stroke-related warning signs and risk factors, respectively. Participants who had good stroke prevention practices accounted for 57.7%. The higher score of stroke-related knowledge among inpatients, the better their prevention practices (B = 0.16, 95 %CI: 0.05 ∼ 0.28). In addition, those with age ≥ 60 (B = 1.20, 95 %CI: 0.42 ∼ 1.97), females (B = 0.93, 95 %CI: 0.24 ∼ 1.61), having physical activities (B = 1.01, 95 %CI: 0.33 ∼ 1.68), or without underlying diseases (B = -1.67, 95 %CI:-2.42 ∼ -0.92) were also related with prevention practices. In general, this survey indicated that the stroke-related knowledge and prevention practices of participants were not good enough. Stroke related knowledge, age, sex, physical activity, and underlying disease were significant factors related to stroke prevention practices. These findings suggest the need to focus on stroke health education for stroke patients.

Anthrax prevention practice and associated factors among farmers in Farta district, South Gondar, Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia

Background

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease endemic in Ethiopia. Despite anthrax preventive measures are the key activities to control the disease, several outbreaks have occurred in Ethiopia recently. The objective of the study was therefore to assess the anthrax preventive practice and its associated factors among farmers in Farta district, South Gondar zone, Northwest Ethiopia.

Method

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among farmers in Farta District from June 7 to 21/2020. A multi-stage sampling technique, with systematic random sampling, was used to select 1,338 study participants. Data were collected through a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. The data were cleaned, coded, and entered into the Epi-data v 3.1 and then exported to SPSS v 23 for analysis. In the bi-variable regression analysis, the variables having a p-value of less than 0.2 were entered into a multivariable logistic regression to control the effect of confounding. Those independent variables with P-value less than 0.05 were taken as statistically significant factors associated with anthrax prevention practice.

Results

The proportion of farmers who had good anthrax prevention practice was 35.8% [95% CI 33%, 38%]. Being female (AOR = 2.96; 95% CI 2.18, 4.02), able to read and write (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.08, 2.03), time spent to arrive at a nearby veterinary clinic (AOR = 1.35; 95%CI 1.01, 1.79), heard about anthrax (AOR = 4.54; 95%CI 2.96, 6.95), and had a favorable attitude towards anthrax preventions (AOR = 3.70; 95%CI 2.77, 4.94) were significantly associated with anthrax prevention practice.

Conclusions

The practice of anthrax prevention was low. Sex, educational status, time spent to arrive at the nearby veterinary clinic, knowledge about anthrax, and attitude towards anthrax prevention were significantly associated with anthrax prevention practice. Health education to create a favorable attitude and the establishment of veterinary clinics in the nearby locations are recommended to improve anthrax preventive practices in the study area.

Strategies for improving safety performance in construction firms

Over the years many prevention management practices have been implemented to prevent and mitigate accidents at the construction site. However, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of individual or combined practices used by companies to manage occupational health and safety issues. The authors selected a sample of 1180 construction firms and 221 individual practices applied in these companies to analyze their effectiveness reducing injury rates over a period of four years in Chile. Different methods were used to study this massive database including: visual analyses of graphical information, statistical analyses and classification techniques. Results showed that practices related to safety incentives and rewards are the most effective from the accident rate viewpoint, even though they are seldom used by companies; on the other hand, practices related to accidents and incidents investigation had a slight negative impact on the accident rate because they are frequently used as a reactive measure. In general, the higher the percentage of prevention practices implemented in a strategy, the lower the accident rate. However, the analysis of the combined effect of prevention practices indicated that the choice of the right combination of practices was more important than just the number of practices implemented.