Malaria Prevention Behavior among Community Figures in Banyumas Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Banyumas Regency is a receptive area with imported cases of malaria mainly due to the rate of migration.To prevent the transmission of imported malaria, migration surveillance is crucial and community figures play a vital role in raising public awareness concerning this necessity.This study aimed to describe malaria prevention behavior among community figures and identify the influential factors in Banyumas.An analytical crosssectional study was employed among the community figures using a questionnaire.The samples included 115 community figures in the malaria-receptive areas of Banyumas using a total sampling technique.Variables studied included age, knowledge, attitude, education, income, access to healthcare services, information exposure, and behavior.The analysis involved univariate, bivariate with chi-square test, and multivariate with logistic regression.The results showed that the malaria prevention behavior among community figures was categorized as good at 54.8%.Knowledge, attitude, education, access to healthcare services, and exposure to information were related to prevention behavior.The most influential factor was poor knowledge (p=0.000;POR=4.298;CI=1.701-10.860),posing a 4.298 times greater risk of having inadequate prevention behavior.Community leaders should actively seek information related to malaria and disseminate this information to their community.