The Compliance of Mothers/ Care-Givers to Drugs used in the Treatment of Malaria among under Five Children in Ukwuani Local Government Area, Delta State
*Chime, Helen C.1 & Obiora–Okeke Kenechukwu1
1Department of Public and Community Health,
Novena University, Ogume, Kwale, Delta State
Email: * helenoputa2002@yahoo.com or jesumowo0630@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to investigate the compliance of Mothers/Guardians to drugs used in treating malaria among under than five children in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State. A well structured questionnaire was used to elicit relevant information from Mothers/Guardians on their life style of use and adherence to medications particularly for malaria treatment. Two hundred and three questionnaires were administered to the respondents by the researcher. The data obtained were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics; while the research hypotheses were tested using regression analysis. The results were presented in tables. There was a statistically significant correlation (r= 0.26) between attitude of Mothers/Guardians and their adherence to treatment, there was also a statistically significant relationship between health seeking behavior of Mothers/Guardians and the ability of Mothers/Guardians to adhere to treatment of their wards(r= 0.23; F (1, 201) = 11.12 and p = 0.00). In conclusion, although attitude influences adherence to treatment, however, there are certain factors which may be responsible for this. It is therefore recommended that Mothers/ care-givers should be educated on the need to ensure adherence to medications given by medical personnel, so as to ensure proper treatment of the ailment, there is also need to create more awareness on the use of anti-malarial drugs amongst mothers.