title: Insecticide treated bednet strategy in rural settings: can we exploit women's decision making power?
abstract: Use of insecticide treated bednets in prevention of malaria is a widely propagated global strategy, however, its use has been reported to be influenced and limited by many variables especially gender bias. A cross sectional field epidemiological study was conducted in a rural setting with two outcome variables, 'Bednet use'(primary outcome variable) and 'Women's Decision Making Power' which were studied in reference to various predictor variables. Analysis reveals a significant effect on the primary outcome variable 'Bednet use' of the predictor variables- age, occupation, bednet purchase decision, women's decision making power, husband's education and knowledge about malaria and its prevention. The study recommends IEC on treated bednets to be disseminated through TV targeting the elderly women who have better decision making power and mobilizing younger women who were found to prefer bednets for prevention of mosquito bites for optimizing the use of treated bednets in similar settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, AFMC, Pune. rinatilak@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tilak
authors.forename: V W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Tilak
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhalwar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001512:Bedding and Linens / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007306:Insecticides; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D009032:Mosquito Control / Q000379:methods; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011287:Prejudice; D012423:Rural Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D014933:Women's Rights
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides