ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Malar.
Sec. Case Management
Volume 3 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmala.2025.1582682
Knowledge, Beliefs and Adherence to Antimalarial Medications among Patients in the Ga East Municipality of Ghana
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Ghana, Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana
- 2University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- 3University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Volta, Ghana
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Treatment adherence is necessary for several reasons, including preventing the development of resistance and avoiding progression to a severe form of the disease. This study explored patients' beliefs and their impact on adherence to antimalarial medications (orthodox and herbal medicines).A cross-sectional survey was conducted over three weeks in the Ga East Municipal District of Ghana. The study involved 346 participants and employed comprehensive questionnaires to gather data, which was analyzed using STATA version 14. Despite the high prevalence of malaria in the district, adherence to antimalarial medication remained a challenge. The study revealed varying opinions among participants regarding the safety and efficacy of different antimalarial treatments.The research highlighted the connection between patients' beliefs, age, knowledge, and adherence. Younger individuals showed higher adherence rates, emphasizing the need for age-specific interventions. Comprehensive knowledge also correlated with better adherence, highlighting the role of education. The study recommended the development of tailored educational campaigns that address misconceptions and foster trust between healthcare providers and patients. Innovative interventions, such as mobile phone-based reminders and incentives, were suggested to improve adherence. The research emphasized the importance of holistic malaria prevention strategies, including robust educational initiatives, targeted interventions in hotspot districts, and widespread distribution of insecticide-treated nets. The study's insights offer actionable recommendations to enhance malaria control efforts in the Ga East Municipal District and beyond.
Keywords: Ghana, Malaria, Treatment, drugs, Compliance
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Amoako, WUTOR and N'guessan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Benoit Banga N'guessan, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Volta, Ghana
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.