Personal protection behaviors against Malaria in India : urban attitudes and health info seeking preferences

Abstract

Malaria and dengue are vector-borne infectious diseases that affect millions of adults and children and consume thousands of lives in India every year. Despite their recurring annual threat, evidence-based approaches to communication strategies that positively influence protective behaviors remain to be established. This study describes a national survey (n=1000) of five large metropolitan cities on health information seeking preferences and attitudes towards scientific and indigenous methods of personal protection. Our findings show that despite high perceived effectiveness of preventive methods, their actual practice remains low. We found that individuals are most likely to seek health information from television followed by newspapers and mobile phones. Attitudes related to Malaria (severity, susceptibility), prevention methods (response efficacy) and media use significantly predicted actual practice of prevention methods. Implications for future design and development of health communication initiatives promotion Malaria prevention are discussed.