Using Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) Programs to Improve Drug Adherence Among Vivax Malaria Patients in Northern Thailand

Introduction and Objective:

Drug adherence is very important in vivax malaria patients. In northern Thailand, 76.21% of vivax malaria patients failed to complete the 14 day course of medication. This study emphasizes the need to educate vivax malaria patients to comply with the treatment.

Methods:

The quasi-experimental research was conducted in malaria clinics (MCs) in two districts in Mae Hong Son Province. The target populations were vivax malaria patients living in the vicinity of the MCs in Muang and Mae Sa Riang Districts. The Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) program, consisting of participatory learning and action methods, was administered to the intervention group. The Control Group only received current standard routine for malaria therapeutic treatments at malaria clinics. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from subjects. We compared pre-intervention questionnaire responses to post-intervention responses at 14 day after attending malaria clinics using the same questionnaire as pre-intervention. Data were analyzed using STATA version 8.0 (STATA Inc., College Station, TX). Chi-square test/Fisher extract test, Student's t-test, and paired t-test were used to describe the data.

Results:

We recruited 142 vivax malaria patients for the intervention group and 117 for the control group for the study. After receiving the IEC program at the malaria clinics, 71.1% of the patients in the intervention group completed their prescribed treatments. However, only 29.9% of the patients in the control group adhered to the treatment. The mean score for the intervention group regarding knowledge, perception of malaria treatment, self-efficacy in drug taking, and having satisfaction of health services and the IEC program from malaria clinics were significantly higher before the intervention than after, and significantly higher among the intervention group than the control group.

Conclusion:

Successful malaria control requires more than just malaria case investigation and promptly treatment; proper health education and promotion about treatment is also necessary. Information, Education, and Communication programs are a powerful and effective means of encouraging the vivax malaria patients to adhere to their treatments. IEC programs in malaria clinics should be considered a necessary tool for malaria prevention and control.