Knowledge of Malaria Prevention, Prevalence and Utilization of Insecticide Treated Nets Among Students of Tertiary Institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria

To determine knowledge of malaria prevention, prevalence of malaria and bed net utilization among tertiary school students in Cross River State, Nigeria. A school-based cross-sectional descriptive study design which utilized quantitative method of data collection. Six selected tertiary schools with hostel facilities in Cross River State, Nigeria, between January 2024 and September 2024. Instrument for data collection was a semi-structured questionnaire and Malaria Rapid Daignostic Test Kits. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 402 tertiary school students for the study. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Chi-square was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 significance level, with a p-value of ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant. A total of 402 undergraduates with majority 222 (55.2%) between age of 23 – 27 year completed the study, with most of the respondents 242(60.2%) being females; many 310(77.1%) were single, and 192(47.8%) owned long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs), with most 136(70.8%) obtained free from health officials during distribution campaigns. More than half 230(57.2%) had good knowledge on malaria prevention while significantly lower proportion 74(38.5%) had utilized long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) prior to the study. Key factors affecting LLIN ownership and use included scarcity (85.7%), lack of knowledge on where to obtain LLINs (66.7%), and cost (58.1%).Overall, point prevalence of malaria showed that the majority 272 (67.7%) had malaria. Chi-square analysis revealedsignificant associations between all the null hypothesis (knowledge on malaria prevention and ownership of LLINs (χ²=97.34, df=2, p=0.00014), LLINs ownership and utilization (χ²=192.983, df =1, p=0.000016), knowledge on malaria prevention and LLINs utilization (χ²=0.0862, df=2, p=0.012), and malaria prevalence and LLINs utilization (χ²=99.264, df=1, p=0.0001). Additionally, sex, age, year of study, and course of study were significantly associated with LLINs ownership (p < 0.05), while age, marital status, year of study, course of study, and number of roommates were significantly associated with LLINs utilization (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Increasing ownership of LLINs and enlightenment campaign among hostel residents on utilization of LLINs as an effective malaria preventive measure may significantly reduce malaria prevalence.