A knowledge, attitude and practices study on malaria in Kandhamal district, Odisha

Malaria is endemic in several tribal-dominated districts in India. Partnering and educating the tribal communities are key to malaria elimination efforts. A Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) study was undertaken at Kandhamal, a tribal-dominated malaria endemic district in the state of Odisha, to assess the gaps in malaria awareness in this community for focused public health interventions. To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices on malaria in the tribal-dominated regions of Kandhamal district, Odisha. A descriptive KAP survey was carried out in the Kandhamal district at the household level. Three hundred households/respondents from 6 blocks distributed in 44 villages were selected through convenient sampling. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS (version 24), and ArcGIS software was used for GIS mapping. The respondents had good knowledge on the major malaria symptoms. Witchcraft, contaminated food/water, and contact with a malaria case were thought to transmit malaria by 5.3%, 14.3%, and 9.7% of respondents, respectively, and these clusters have been mapped by GIS. Logistic regression identified reduced level of education and open source of water supply to have a strong association with the misconceptions regarding malaria among the respondents. Knowledge and attitude regarding malaria were found to be associated with residence in a hilly area and an open source of water supply, respectively. Overall, the participants in Kandhamal had good KAP on malaria. The clusters with poor knowledge could be the target of focused public health interventions