Knowledge, attitude and practice levels regarding malaria among people living in the malaria endemic area of Myanmar

Purpose - Malaria still remains a significant public health problem in Myanmar and it has a complex epidemiology. Evidence-based community awareness raising interventions are also particularly needed. This cross-sectional study was organized to explore the basic characteristics associated with knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding malaria among people living in the most malaria-endemic villages of the Banmauk Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - The Banmauk, one of the most malaria-endemic townships, was selected purposively in order to represent the survey results for people living in malaria hotspots. During the peak malaria season (July 2018), 250 household leaders were invited to be interviewed with structured questionnaires. In addition to descriptive data, the associations were determined chi(2)-test and correlation. Findings - Overall KAP indicated considerably low percentages of good levels, especially in practice, only 21.6 percent showed good practice, 38.4 percent had good knowledge and 56.8 percent had good attitude. Age (p = 0.022) and annual family income (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the knowledge level, whereas having fever attacks among family members in the last two weeks (p = 0.023) showed statistical association with attitude at a p-value < 0.05. Surprisingly, there were no associated variables with malaria practice. In addition, there were negative correlations between knowledge with attitude and knowledge with practice; however, the results were not significant. Originality/value - The overall KAP regarding malaria was at relatively poor levels among people living in malaria transmission areas. Therefore, new approaches to improve malaria KAP are promptly needed in this community.