Assessing informal healthcare providers' knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of malaria and diarrhea: evidence from urban informal settlements in Southeast Nigeria.

IF 3 3区医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Frontiers in Public Health Pub Date : 2025-03-12 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1556996

Ifeyinwa Arize, Joy Ozughalu, Bernard Okechi, Chinyere Mbachu, Obinna Onwujekwe, Bassey Ebenso

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Abstract

Background: Despite the availability of effective interventions, malaria and diarrhea continue to be leading causes of disease burden in Nigeria. Informal healthcare providers (IHPs) account for a significant proportion of health service providers in urban slums and may pose a challenge to service quality if they are untrained and unregulated. This study assessed IHPs' knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of malaria and diarrhea.

Methodology: A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted in eight urban informal settlements (slums) in southeast Nigeria. Data were collected from 235 informal health providers using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.

Results: The mean overall knowledge scores for malaria and diarrhea were 5.2 (95% CI: 4.3-6.1) and 5.4 (95% CI: 4.1-6.7), respectively, among the different IHPs. However, private medicine vendors (PMVs) and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) showed higher knowledge of treating malaria and diarrhea. Having more than 8 years of formal education and receiving on-the-job training had a statistically significant effect on adequate knowledge of malaria and diarrhea treatment.

Conclusion: Institutionalizing and strengthening service delivery through appropriate training and support for IHPs can improve the quality of health service delivery in urban slums.

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来源期刊

Frontiers in Public Health Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

7.70%

发文量

4469

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Frontiers in Public Health is a multidisciplinary open-access journal which publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research and is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians, policy makers and the public worldwide. The journal aims at overcoming current fragmentation in research and publication, promoting consistency in pursuing relevant scientific themes, and supporting finding dissemination and translation into practice. Frontiers in Public Health is organized into Specialty Sections that cover different areas of research in the field. Please refer to the author guidelines for details on article types and the submission process.