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Regional variations in child and mother’s characteristics influencing the use of insecticide treated net in Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2022

Samuel Ojima Adejoh Open the ORCID record for Samuel Ojima Adejoh [Opens in a new window] ,
Tunde A. Alabi Open the ORCID record for Tunde A. Alabi [Opens in a new window]  and
Chidozie Ezechukwu
Samuel Ojima Adejoh*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, Nigeria
Tunde A. Alabi
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, Nigeria Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Cape Town, South Africa taalabi@unilag.edu.ng
Chidozie Ezechukwu
Affiliation:
Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Abuja, Nigeria
*
*Corresponding author. Email: sadejoh@unilag.edu.ng
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Abstract

Nigeria accounts for a quarter of malaria cases worldwide, which can be prevented with the use of insecticide treated nets (ITN). While studies have documented mother-related characteristics influencing use of ITN, regional variations in the influence of those factors are not well known. This study investigated nine factors (age, place of residence, education, religion, wealth, number of children in the household, sex of child, age of child and previous experience of child mortality) as possible predictors of use of ITN for children and how the associations vary across northern and southern parts of the country. The study utilised the 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey, which comprised 6524 mothers (4009 from the north and 2151 from the south) aged 15-49. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fitted. It was found that, less than half (47.9%) of the respondents reported no access to a mosquito net in the north compared to 70.8% in the south. More than half (51.4%) of the northern respondents used insecticide treated net (ITN) for the child compared to 27.1% of southern mothers. When the variables are fitted together in the same model, place of residence, mother’s age, mother’s education, wealth, religion, number of children in the household and previous experience of child mortality were associated with the use of ITN. Regional variations exist in the influence of mother’s age, number of children in the household and previous experience of child mortality. It was submitted that mother’s characteristics are more important than the child’s factors in the use of ITN, and that, contrary to the theory of poor utilisation of health-related facilities in the north compared to the south, residents in the former have access to and use ITN more than their counterparts from the latter.

Keywords

Insecticide Treated NetsMalaria Indicator Surveysocial and spatial inequality in NigeriaMother’s characteristicsChild’s characteristics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , March 2023 , pp. 326 - 343
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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