Use of insecticide-treated nets (itns) and malaria prevention practices among urban households in kaduna metropolis, nigeria

Malaria persists as the dominant vector-borne disease in Nigeria despite more than a decade of intensified control efforts built around insecticide-treated net (ITN) distribution. This study investigated the use of ITNs and malaria prevention practices among urban households in Kaduna Metropolis, with specific attention to household knowledge of malaria transmission, the relationship between household ITN availability and ITN use, and the association between ITN use and self-reported malaria episodes during the preceding three months. A community-based cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and a multistage sampling procedure was used to select 420 household heads and caregivers drawn from twelve residential wards across the Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Chikun and Igabi Local Government Areas between March and May 2024. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire served as the data collection instrument, and data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 26, with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests employed at the .05 level of significance. The findings revealed that 60.0% of households had good knowledge of malaria transmission and ITN use, 70.0% owned at least one ITN, only 40.0% possessed sufficient nets for all members, and 46.7% of households had at least one member sleep under an ITN the previous night. Households reporting malaria episodes in the preceding three months constituted 46.0%. Significant associations were found between knowledge and ITN use, between ITN availability and ITN use, and between ITN use and malaria episodes (p < .001 for the three null hypotheses). The study concluded that possession of and access to ITNs, rather than knowledge alone, is the strongest driver of use, and recommended intensified urban net replacement channels and behaviour-focused messaging.