Spatial Pattern and Determinants of Risk Factors of Malaria among Children under five in Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria remains one of the leading public health problems in developing countries, especially Nigerian. Evidence-based knowledge of interventions are needed to combat the menace of the disease. Pregnant women and under five children have been found to be the most vulnerable groups. Therefore, in this study, we explore the spatial pattern and risk factors of malaria among under five children in Nigeria using data sets from the 2010
and 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Survey. A total of 9360 children aged 6-59 months were included in the analysis. A structured geo-additive model, an approach that simultaneously estimates nonlinear, spatial, fixed and random effects within a Bayesian context in one step was adopted for all estimation. The results reveal a reduction in the proportion of children who had malaria in 2015 compared with those in 2010. Socio-economic status, mother educational level and place of residence have marginal effect on child health. Malaria risk increased with increasing age of child and age of household head. Further, malaria risk was found to be higher in Kebbi, Kwara, Niger and Zamfara states. Findings from this paper are meant to guide policy makers and donor agencies in appropriate identification of the drivers of the disease with the aim of designing and funding of effective intervention strategies to reduce the pattern of the disease endemicity so as to improve child survival-hood.