CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 21Malaria Research and ControlDengue and Mosquito Control ResearchMosquito-borne diseases and control

Do malaria vector control measures impact disease-related behaviour and knowledge? Evidence from a large-scale larviciding intervention in Tanzania

Open access
Maheu-Giroux, Mathieu, Castro, Marcia C·2013·Malaria Journal
DOI 10.1186/1475-2875-12-422PMC PMC3835455
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent efforts of accelerated malaria control towards the long-term goal of elimination had significant impacts in reducing malaria transmission. While these efforts need to be sustained over time, a scenario of low transmission could bring about changes in individual disease risk perception, hindering adherence to protective measures, and affecting disease-related knowledge. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential impact of a successful malaria vector control intervention on bed net usage and malaria-related knowledge. METHODS: Dar es Salaam's Urban Malaria Control Program was launched in 2004 with the aim of developing a sustainable larviciding intervention. Larviciding was scaled-up using a stepped-wedge design. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were collected using a randomized cluster sampling design (2004-2008). Prevalence ratios (PR) for the effect of the larviciding intervention on bed net usage (N = 64,537) and household heads' knowledge of malaria symptoms and transmission (N = 11,254) were obtained from random effects regression models. RESULTS: The probability that individuals targeted by larviciding had used a bed net was reduced by 5% as compared to those in non-intervention areas (PR = 0.95; 95% credible intervals (CrI): 0.94-0.97) and the magnitude of this effect increased with time. Larviciding also led to a decline in household heads' knowledge of malaria symptoms (PR = 0.88; 95% CrI: 0.83-0.92) but no evidence of effect on knowledge of malaria transmission was found. CONCLUSION: Successful control interventions could bring about further challenges to sustaining gains in reducing malaria transmission if not accompanied by strategies to avoid changes in individual knowledge and behaviour. This study points to two major research gaps. First, there is an urgent need to gather more evidence on the extent to which countries that have achieved significant decline in malaria transmission are also observing changes in individual behaviour and knowledge. Second, multidisciplinary assessments that combine quantitative and qualitative data, utilizing theories of health behaviour and theories of knowledge, are needed to optimize efforts of national malaria control programmes, and ultimately contribute to sustained reduction in malaria transmission.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/1475-2875-12-422

Cites

2 of 2 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • 30 health centers in Maheu-Giroux et al. 2013 were randomly assigned to three groups, each with 10 health centers, which started the intervention phase by phase.

    “30 health centers were randomly assigned to three groups, each with 10 health centers, which started the intervention phase by phase.”

    From Applications and implementation considerations for stepped-wedge designs in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review (2026) · cites this paper as [82]

    The Methods (Data collection) describe a phased rollout across wards, not three groups of ten health centers. The Methods (Statistical analyses) state that the intervention was not randomized, and the Discussion explicitly says the rollout order was not randomly allocated. The paper does support a phased rollout, but contradicts the claim’s central assertion of random assignment. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The stepped-wedge design in Maheu-Giroux et al. 2013 allowed for the phased implementation of the intervention and provided a rigorous evaluation of its effectiveness while ensuring that all clusters eventually received the intervention.

    “This design allowed for the phased implementation of the intervention and provided a rigorous evaluation of its effectiveness while ensuring that all clusters eventually received the intervention”

    From Applications and implementation considerations for stepped-wedge designs in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review (2026) · cites this paper as [82]

    Methods (Data collection; page unavailable) describes a phased rollout that reached all intervention areas by April 2008, but does not establish that every cluster received larviciding. Methods (Statistical analyses) and the Discussion describe an evaluation with sensitivity checks, while noting that rollout was not randomized and its effect estimates could be biased; the claim's unqualified description of a rigorous evaluation overstates that evidence. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Allocation in Maheu-Giroux et al. 2013 was not concealed, but clinicians, TB, and IMNCI officers were blinded to the order of entry into the intervention until each group of health centers was enrolled.

    “Allocation was not concealed, but clinicians, TB, and IMNCI officers were blinded to the order of entry into the intervention until each group of health centers was enrolled”

    From Applications and implementation considerations for stepped-wedge designs in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review (2026) · cites this paper as [82]

    The Discussion states that the order of the larviciding rollout across wards was not randomly allocated, and Methods > Data collection describes a sequential ward-level rollout; neither passage establishes whether allocation was concealed. Searches for blinding, clinicians, TB and IMNCI officers, and health-center enrollment found no passage addressing those details. Our copy therefore does not verify the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 29

  1. Steketee RW Campbell CC Impact of national malaria control scale-up programmes in Africa: magnitude and attribution of effects Malar J 2010 9 299 10.1186/1475-2875-9-299 20979634 PMC2988827 · DOI
  2. Murray CJ Rosenfeld LC Lim SS Andrews KG Foreman KJ Haring D Fullman N Naghavi M Lozano R Lopez AD Global malaria mortality between 1980 and 2010: a systematic analysis Lancet 2012 379 413 431 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60034-8 22305225 · DOI · Paper page
  3. Eisele TP Larsen DA Walker N Cibulskis RE Yukich JO Zikusooka CM Steketee RW Estimates of child deaths prevented from malaria prevention scale-up in Africa 2001–2010 Malar J 2012 11 93 10.1186/1475-2875-11-93 22455864 PMC3350413 · DOI
  4. Snow RW Marsh K The consequences of reducing transmission of plasmodium falciparum in Africa Adv Parasitol 2002 52 235 264 12521262
  5. Dutt A Dutta H Parera C Akhtar R, Dutt A, Wadhwa V Resurgence of malaria in Sri Lanka in the 1970s Malaria in South Asia: Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. Volume 1 2010 Netherlands: Springer
  6. Cohen JM Moonen B Snow RW Smith DL How absolute is zero? An evaluation of historical and current definitions of malaria elimination Malar J 2010 9 213 10.1186/1475-2875-9-213 20649972 PMC2983111 · DOI
  7. Moonen B Cohen JM Tatem AJ Cohen J Hay SI Sabot O Smith DL A framework for assessing the feasibility of malaria elimination Malar J 2010 9 322 10.1186/1475-2875-9-322 21070659 PMC2996402 · DOI
  8. Cohen JM Smith DL Cotter C Ward A Yamey G Sabot OJ Moonen B Malaria resurgence: a systematic review and assessment of its causes Malar J 2012 11 122 10.1186/1475-2875-11-122 22531245 PMC3458906 · DOI
  9. Moonen B Cohen JM Snow RW Slutsker L Drakeley C Smith DL Abeyasinghe RR Rodriguez MH Maharaj R Tanner M Targett G Operational strategies to achieve and maintain malaria elimination Lancet 2010 376 1592 1603 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61269-X 21035841 PMC3037542 · DOI
  10. Atkinson JA Fitzgerald L Toaliu H Taleo G Tynan A Whittaker M Riley I Vallely A Community participation for malaria elimination in Tafea Province, Vanuatu: Part I. Maintaining motivation for prevention practices in the context of disappearing disease Malar J 2010 9 93 10.1186/1475-2875-9-93 20380748 PMC2873527 · DOI
  11. malERA Consultative Group on Vector Control A research agenda for malaria eradication: vector control PLoS Med 2011 8 e1000401 21311587 PMC3026704
  12. Toé LP Skovmand O Dabiré KR Diabaté A Diallo Y Guiguemdé TR Doannio JM Akogbeto M Baldet T Gruénais ME Decreased motivation in the use of insecticide-treated nets in a malaria endemic area in Burkina Faso Malar J 2009 8 175 10.1186/1475-2875-8-175 19640290 PMC2729312 · DOI
  13. Baume CA Marin MC Intra-household mosquito net use in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia: are nets being used? Who in the household uses them? Am J Trop Med Hyg 2007 77 963 971 17984361
  14. Tynan A Atkinson JA Toaliu H Taleo G Fitzgerald L Whittaker M Riley I Schubert M Vallely A Community participation for malaria elimination in Tafea Province, Vanuatu: part II. Social and cultural aspects of treatment-seeking behaviour Malar J 2011 10 204 10.1186/1475-2875-10-204 21787434 PMC3160431 · DOI
  15. Warsame M Kimbute O Machinda Z Ruddy P Melkisedick M Peto T Ribeiro I Kitua A Tomson G Gomes M Recognition, perceptions and treatment practices for severe malaria in rural Tanzania: implications for accessing rectal artesunate as a pre-referral PLoS One 2007 2 e149 10.1371/journal.pone.0000149 17225854 PMC1764709 · DOI
  16. Maheu-Giroux M Castro M Impact of community-based larviciding on the prevalence of malaria infection in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania PLoS One 2013 8 e71638 10.1371/journal.pone.0071638 23977099 PMC3743749 · DOI
  17. Bauch JA Gu JJ Msellem M Mårtensson A Ali AS Gosling R Baltzell KA Perception of malaria risk in a setting of reduced malaria transmission: a qualitative study in Zanzibar Malar J 2013 12 75 10.1186/1475-2875-12-75 23433302 PMC3584900 · DOI
  18. Castro M Yamagata Y Mtasiwa D Tanner M Utzinger J Keiser J Singer B Integrated urban malaria control: a case study in dar es salaam, Tanzania Am J Trop Med Hyg 2004 71 103 117 15331826
  19. Yhdego M Paul M Malaria control in Tanzania Environ Int 1988 14 479 483 10.1016/0160-4120(88)90408-4 · DOI
  20. Geissbuhler Y Kannady K Chaki P Emidi B Govella N Mayagaya V Kiama M Mtasiwa D Mshinda H Lindsay S Tanner M Fillinger U de Castro MC Killeen GF Microbial larvicide application by a large-scale, community-based program reduces malaria infection prevalence in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania PLoS One 2009 4 e5107 10.1371/journal.pone.0005107 19333402 PMC2661378 · DOI
  21. Greenland S Model-based estimation of relative risks and other epidemiologic measures in studies of common outcomes and in case–control studies Am J Epidemiol 2004 160 301 305 10.1093/aje/kwh221 15286014 · DOI
  22. Santos CA Fiaccone RL Oliveira NF Cunha S Barreto ML Do Carmo MB Moncayo AL Rodrigues LC Cooper PJ Amorim LD Estimating adjusted prevalence ratio in clustered cross-sectional epidemiological data BMC Med Res Methodol 2008 8 80 10.1186/1471-2288-8-80 19087281 PMC2625349 · DOI
  23. Moiroux N Boussari O Djenontin A Damien G Cottrell G Henry M Guis H Corbel V Dry season determinants of malaria disease and net use in Benin, West Africa PLoS One 2012 7 e30558 10.1371/journal.pone.0030558 22291987 PMC3264611 · DOI
  24. Koenker HM Loll D Rweyemamu D Ali AS A good night’s sleep and the habit of net use: perceptions of risk and reasons for bed net use in Bukoba and Zanzibar Malar J 2013 12 203 10.1186/1475-2875-12-203 23764006 PMC3691710 · DOI
  25. Magesa SM Lengeler C De Savigny D Miller JE Njau RJ Kramer K Kitua A Mwita A Creating an “enabling environment” for taking insecticide treated nets to national scale: the Tanzanian experience Malar J 2005 4 34 10.1186/1475-2875-4-34 16042780 PMC1190210 · DOI
  26. Mulligan JA Yukich J Hanson K Costs and effects of the Tanzanian national voucher scheme for insecticide-treated nets Malar J 2008 7 32 10.1186/1475-2875-7-32 18279509 PMC2279140 · DOI
  27. Hanson K Nathan R Marchant T Mponda H Jones C Bruce J Stephen G Mulligan J Mshinda H Schellenberg JA Vouchers for scaling up insecticide-treated nets in Tanzania: methods for monitoring and evaluation of a national health system intervention BMC Public Health 2008 8 205 10.1186/1471-2458-8-205 18544162 PMC2442068 · DOI
  28. Kidane G Morrow RH Teaching mothers to provide home treatment of malaria in Tigray, Ethiopia: a randomised trial Lancet 2000 356 550 555 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)02580-0 10950232 · DOI
  29. Breman J Mills A Snow R Jo-Ann Mulligan J Lengeler C Mendis K Marchesini P White N Steketee R Doumbo O Jamison DT, Breman JG, Measham AR, Alleyne G, Claeson M, Evans DB, Jha P, Mills A, Musgrove P Conquering malaria Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries 2006 2 Washington, DC: World Bank 21250309

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Maheu-Giroux, M., & Castro, M. C.
Venue
Malaria Journal
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2013-11-15
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
422-422
ISSN
1475-2875 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1475-2875-12-422
PMC
PMC3835455
OpenAlex
W2170433322
Cited by
21
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3
FWCI
3.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Malaria Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • IHI Repository (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of State
  • United States Agency for International Development
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Wellcome Trust
  • National Institutes of Health (5r03ai094401-02)
  • Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
  • Graduate School, University of Maryland
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R03AI094401-01)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Malaria Research and Control
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Dengue and Mosquito Control Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Mosquito-borne diseases and control
Keywords
malaria vector control, larviciding, bed net use, malaria knowledge, malaria symptoms, malaria transmission, health behavior change, malaria elimination, Dar es Salaam, stepped wedge design
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Child, Preschool, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Longitudinal Studies, Malaria, Male, Middle Aged, Mosquito Control, Tanzania, Young Adult, Mosquito Nets

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review