Abstract

The study assessed the level of antimalarial drug utilization amongst Staffers of three Health facilities in Rivers State. It was a cross sectional questionnaire based study. The study assessed the knowledge, attitude and malaria treatment and preventive practices of one hundred and five respondents gotten from amongst health workers at Terabor and Ahoada General Hospitals as well as College of Health Science and Management Technology, Health Centre in Port Harcourt. SPSS version 20 was used for the analysis. Chi squared test was used to assess relationships. The study revealed that majority of the Staff respondents were within 18 to 35 age bracket and have had tertiary education. Different frequencies of malaria treatment were also noted ranging from monthly to once a year. 86.6% of the staff reported having used Artemether-Lumefantrine as their drug of first choice for malaria treatment. Dihydroartemisinin/Piperaquine had 6.7% usage while 2.8% and 1.9% were for Artesunate/Amodiaquine and Artesunate/ Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine respectively. Non-ACT usage stood at 1.9%. Only 20% of the staff tests all the time before treatment. Most of the Staff also had good knowledge of symptoms of malaria and got their treatment recommendations from qualified personnels such as Doctors and Pharmacists. Six (5.7%) of the Staff still do not complete the treatment regimen either for reasons of feeling better half way or due to unpleasant odour/taste. The major malaria preventive practices prevalent among the staff are covering home windows with net (85.7%) and sleeping under Insecticide treated nets. Artemisinine-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) are the most predominantly used antimalarial amongst staffers of the three Health facilities.

Key words: Antimalarial, drug utilization pattern, Artemisinine-based Combination Therapies (ACTs).