Comparative Assessment of Private and Public Health Care Providers' Knowledge on Malaria Treatment in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State

Background: Health-care workers have a major role to play in ensuring that malaria treatment is carried out in accordance to treatment guidelines, to ensure the quality of patient care. Having the requisite knowledge of the ailment and its management is a necessity in achieving optimal treatment outcomes. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess and compare health-care workers' knowledge on malaria and its treatment across public and private primary health-care facilities of Bassa Local Government Area, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Two hundred pretested semi-structured questionnaires were administered to health-care workers across selected public and private facilities; and the generated data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 20. Results: A total of 184 health-care workers (92% of the study population of 200) participated in the study. The majority of the health-care workers (65.8%) were from the public sector, while 34.2% were from private health facilities. Most of the respondents were Junior Community Health Extension Workers (23.4%) and Community Health Extension Workers (22.8%). The other health workers included in the study were nurses and laboratory and pharmacy technicians involved in the management of malaria. The respondents had a good knowledge of the cause, symptoms, and diagnosis of malaria across the facilities, based on their item scores; however, their knowledge on anti-malarial drugs was poor. Workers with >10 years in practice had significantly better knowledge (45.3%) than those with lesser experience (28.4%) (P = 0.018). Those in private practice had marginally better knowledge (44.4%) than those in public sectors (38.8%). Conclusion: The respondents had good knowledge of the etiology, symptoms, and diagnosis of uncomplicated malaria across the facilities, but knowledge of the recommended antimalarials and symptoms of complicated malaria was poor. The outcomes will be useful in educating health-care professionals in the facilities, with an emphasis on the recommended drugs for malaria.