Factors Influencing the Utilization of Insecticide Treated Bed Nets in the Prevention of Malaria in the Berekum East Municipality, Ghana

Introduction: The goal of the study was to assess the factors that influence the utilization of Insecticide Treated bed Nets (ITN) in the prevention of malaria in the Berekum East Municipality.

Methods: Quantitative cross sectional design was used to conduct the study in the Berekum East Municipality. Total of 307 respondents aged between 20-60 years were randomly selected for data collection with the aid of a questionnaire. Data were analysed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the factors influencing ITN use at 95% confidence interval.

Results: The study found that 87.6% of the respondents owned ITN; however 28% of them used it regularly while 72% use it irregularly. Only 12.4% of the respondents did not use ITN because they did not have them. Majority of the respondents (94.4%) had sufficient knowledge about INT. The reasons that prevented the people from using the ITN included inconvenienced sleeping under them, skin rashes and heat intolerance. The key predictors of appropriate use of ITN were education level, the number of occupants per room, the structure of the room and the knowledge level and the availability of ITNs. Age range 20-30 year had odds ratio of 1.633 of using ITN than other age groups. Likewise, people with tertiary education had OR 2.036 ITN usage more than other educational categories.

Conclusion: There was high ITN ownership with poor usage. Strengthening health education of the benefits and importance of ITN use will improve appropriate utilization of ITN among the people of Berekum Municipality.