title: The role of gender on malaria preventive behaviour among rural households in Kenya.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malaria remains a major health and development challenge in the sub-Saharan African economies including Kenya, yet it can be prevented. Technologies to prevent malaria are available but are not universally adopted by male- and female-headed households. The study thus, examined the role of gender in malaria prevention, examining adoption behaviour between male- and female-headed households in Kenya.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study uses a recent baseline cross-section survey data collected from 2718 households in parts of western and eastern Kenya. Two separate models were estimated for male- and female-headed households to determine if the drivers of adoption differ between the two categories of households.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings from the study show that: access to public health information, residing in villages with higher experience in malaria prevention, knowledge on the cause and transmission of malaria significantly increase the number of practices adopted in both male- and female-headed households. On the other hand, formal education of the household head and livestock units owned exhibited a positive and significant effect on adoption among male-headed households, but no effect among female-headed households.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings from thus study suggest that universal policy tools can be used to promote uptake of integrated malaria prevention practices, for female- and male-headed households.
authors.affiliation: International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya. diirog@yahoo.co.uk.|Makerere University , Kampala, Uganda. diirog@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Gracious M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Diiro
authors.affiliation: International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya. haffognon@icipe.org.|International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Bamako, Mali. haffognon@icipe.org.
authors.forename: Hippolyte D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Affognon
authors.affiliation: International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya. bmuriithi@icipe.org.
authors.forename: Beatrice W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Muriithi
authors.affiliation: International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya. skingori@icipe.org.
authors.forename: Sarah Kingori
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Wanja
authors.affiliation: Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Kilifi, Kenya. cmbogo@icipe.org.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mbogo
authors.affiliation: International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya. cmutro@icipe.org.|UP Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. cmutro@icipe.org.
authors.forename: Clifford
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mutero
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008288:Malaria / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors