COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN MALARIA PREVALENCE AND IT’S RISK FACTORS (A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN STANDARD DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY NDHS)

ABSTRACT This study was carried out to assess the malaria prevalence and risk factors in children aged 6 – 59 months. The data used for the analysis was obtained from the 2018 Nigeria standard demographic and health survey (NDHS). The sample was obtained through a stratified two-stage cluster sampling. The sample consists of 10609 children aged 6 – 59 months. Members of the sample were tested for malaria parasite through rapid diagnostic test (RDT). Fourteen malaria risk factors were identified and subjected to screening Philips et al., (2009), Kanyangararaet al., (2016). The screening involves testing for multicollinearity and linearity in order to satisfy assumptions for binary logistic regression model. Three factors failed the test and eleven were included as independent covariates in the binary logistic regression analysis. Dichotomous response variable of the results of RDT was the dependent variable. Analysis was carried out in IBM SPSS version 20.0. The results showed overall malaria prevalence through RDT was 38.6%. North West region had the highest malaria prevalence (11.9%) in relation to other regions. South South had the least prevalence of 3.1%. Nine of the eleven malaria risk factors were significantly associated with malaria prevalence. The odds of malaria positivity increased in North West region as well as for lower wealth index, males, lower level of education, age and number of children. Similarly, odds of malaria positivity decrease in children sleeping under bed nets, SS genotype, household with higher wealth index and increased maternal level of education.