Bed net ownership, use and perceptions among women seeking antenatal care in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Opportunities for improved maternal and child health

Pettifor, Audrey; Taylor, Eboni; Nku, David; Duvall, Sandra; Tabala, Martine; Meshnick, Steve; Behets, Frieda

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-8-331

Table 2 Knowledge of malaria and use of bed net in antenatal clinic attendees in Kinshasa, DRC in 2005/06.

From: Bed net ownership, use and perceptions among women seeking antenatal care in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Opportunities for improved maternal and child health

	N	%
*Causes of Malaria (unprompted)*
Mosquitoes	317	90.31
Neighborhood Dirt	263	74.93
Standing Water	150	42.74
Other Answers*	62	17.66
*Do you know ways to prevent Malaria?*
No	36	10.26
Yes	315	89.74
*Malaria diagnosis in the past year?*
No	110	31.34
Yes	238	67.81
*Who diagnosed your Malaria?*
Self diagnosed	210	88.24
Physician	28	11.76
*Number of People who Slept in the Home Last Night*
0–3	133	37.89
4–6	116	33.05
7 or more	102	29.06
*Do you own a mosquito net?*
No	236	67.24
Yes	115	32.76
**Number of nets owned (mean, range)§***		1.4 (1–5)
*Reasons for not owning a mosquito net (unprompted)* ^#
Cost (Very Expensive)	114	48.31
Did not know about nets	27	11.44
Net was damaged	22	9.32
Not interested in a bed net	20	8.47
Do not like nets/Do not breathe well under net	13	5.51
No mosquitoes in my area	12	5.08
Other^†	27	11.44
*Participant (pregnant woman) slept under a net last night*
No	265	75.50
Yes	86	24.50
*Reasons for not sleeping under a net (unprompted)* ^#
Do not own a net	231	87.17
Mosquito net is torn	20	7.55
Other^††	55	20.75
*Mother and child/children slept under a net last night (among those who slept under a net N = 100)*	27	27.8
*No one in home slept under a net last night*	251	71.51
*How many children under 5 slept under a net last night?* ^§
0	41	41.84
1	33	33.67
2 or more	24	24.49
*How many children ages 5–17 slept under a net last night?* ^§
0	62	63.92
1	17	17.53
2 or more	18	18.56
*Proportion of days slept under a net in the past week§*
None	18	15.65
More than 0 but less than 100%	31	26.96
100%	66	57.39
*How often did you sleep under a mosquito net during the past month?§*
Every night	52	45.22
Almost every night	29	25.22
A few nights	18	15.65
Not even once	16	13.91

* Includes: being in the rain, catching a cold, drinking dirty water, eating cold food, bugs/insects, suffocation/suppression at home, unclean or improperly washed bodies, trash/bad odors
† Includes: Do not know where to get a net, haven't bought a net yet, and Do not know (general)
†† Includes: Net causes other diseases, net not effective, chemical is dangerous for health, sleeping under a net is hot, spent the night outdoors b/c of heat, spent the night at a mourning, other family members used the net, mosquitoes can bite through the net, mosquitoes can get under the net, husband did not want us to sleep under it, no space in the room, other not specified, refused.
§Denominator includes only study participants who reported owning a mosquito net (N = 115).
# Participants were allowed to select more than one option

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ISSN: 1471-2458

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