Table 2.
Perception of child health and response to childhood illness
| Item | Response | No. (%) |
| What type of illness does your child usually suffers | ‘Fever’;/‘febrile illnesses’ | 67 (66.3) |
| from | ‘Malaria’ | 14 (13.9) |
| Does not usually get ill | 10 (9.9) | |
| Headaches | 3 (3.0) | |
| Cough | 3 (3.0) | |
| Unknown | 3 (3.0) | |
| Asthmatic attacks | 1 (1.0) | |
| How did you respond to the child's fever the last | Got a drug from a chemical shop | 68 (67.3) |
| time | Went to the clinic | 20 (19.8) |
| Found some medicine in the house | 9 (8.9) | |
| Took the child to church | 1 (1.0) | |
| Waited for the father to return from work | 1 (1.0) | |
| Not sure | 2 (2.0) | |
| What medicine did you give the child the last | Cannot tell | 34 (33.6) |
| time he/she had a febrile illness | Paracetamol (acetaminophen) | 27 (26.7) |
| Chloroquine | 20 (19.8) | |
| Chloroquine and paracetamol | 12 (11.8) | |
| #Others | 8 (7.9) | |
| How quickly did the child get well the last time | Three days later | 25 (24.8) |
| he/she experienced a febrile illness | More than four days later | 23 (22.8) |
| The next day | 16 (15.8) | |
| Not applicable | 11 (10.9) | |
| Two days later | 9 (8.9) | |
| The same day | 7 (6.9) | |
| Did not recover for some time | 2 (2.0) | |
| Would you prefer a drug combination or a regimen | Combined | 58 (57.4) |
| consisting of a single drug for treating your | Single | 33 (32.7) |
| child's malaria | It depends | 6 (5.9) |
| Do not know | 4 (3.9) | |
| *Why would you prefer a combined or single | Two drugs combined are better than one | 17 (29.3) |
| drug (n=58) | Two drugs will work better and faster | 27 (46.5) |
| Combined therapy is more convenient | 8 (13.7) | |
| Cannot explain | 6 (10.3) | |
| Is it important to give the full 3-day course of | Yes | 87 (86.1) |
| treatment, even if the child recovers earlier | No | 13 (12.9) |
| Cannot tell | 1 (1.0) | |
| Why is it important to administer the full three | To be able to cure the disease completely | 33 (32.7) |
| day course of treatment, even when your child | To make sure that I follow the doctor's instruction | 31 (30.7) |
| recovers earlier | To be able to prevent the illness from returning | 12 (11.9) |
| In order not to waste the medicine | 8 (7.9) | |
| Cannot tell | 17 (16.8) |
#
Other includes “teething mixture”, n=2; “masada”, “teeda”, “top-fever”, “antibiotic”, “alagbin”, “antihelminthic” (all n=1).
*
Refers only to those who said they preferred combined therapy