Edmund Wedam Kanmiki|John Koku Awoonor?Williams|James F. Phillips|S. Patrick Kachur|Sabastian F. Achana|James Akazili|Ayaga A. Bawah
Socio-economic and demographic disparities in ownership and use of insecticide-treated bed nets for preventing malaria among rural reproductive-aged women in northern Ghana
University of Ghana|Ghana Health Service|Columbia University|Columbia University|Navrongo Health Research Centre|Ghana Health Service|Navrongo Health Research Centre|Ghana Health Service|University of Ghana
malaria continues leading cause morbidity mortality countries subsaharan africa insecticidetreated bed nets itns one costeffective interventions preventing malaria endemic settings ghana made tremendous efforts ensure widespread ownership use itns however national coverage statistics mask important inequities demand targeted attention study assesses disparities ownership utilization itns among reproductiveaged women rural impoverished setting ghanapopulationbased crosssectional data 3993 women age 15 49 years collected seven districts upper east region ghana using twostage cluster sampling approach bivariate multivariate regression models used assess social economic demographic disparities ownership utilization itn compare utilization rates among women households owning least one itnas high 79 respondents found itn 62 itn owners used night preceding survey identified disparities ownership utilization itns wealth index occupational status religion district residence respondents relative richest wealth quintile 74 likely itns compared poorest quintile pvalue 0001 ci 129234 however 33 less likely use itns compared poorest pvalue 001 ci 050091interventions aimed preventing controlling malaria use bed nets rural ghana similar settings give attention disadvantage populations poor unemployed tailored massages educational campaigns required ensure consistent use treated bed nets