How much do patients in Blantyre, Malawi know about antibiotics and other prescription only medicines?

INTRODUCTION: This qualitative and quantitative exploratory study was conducted to assess patients'/customers' knowledge, beliefs and practices about antibiotics and other prescription only medication (POM) in 10 community pharmacies in Blantyre, Malawi. METHOD: 5 out of 10 pharmacies were selected by simple random sampling and 54 participants attending the selected pharmacies were interviewed. RESULTS: The major antibiotic drugs frequently requested without a doctor's prescription were Bactrim (Cotrimoxazole) and amoxicillin. Knowledge of these medicines was attributed to the patients' previous medical conditions and doctor's prescription. However this knowledge does not extend to understanding of proper therapeutic indications and dosage regimens for antibiotic therapy. The majority (30 out of 54 participants) did not know about the importance of completing a prescribed course of antibiotics. All 54 participants believed in the efficacy of antibiotics. CONCLUSION: Study participants had wide range of knowledge about antibiotics and other POM from hospital, but the majority had limited knowledge regarding clinical indications and correct dosage schedules.

The experience of family foster care in Malawi: a preliminary investigation.

This preliminary investigation into family foster care in Malawi set out to provide information on the Malawi government family foster care structure primarily through the qualitative experience of foster caregivers. A semistructured interview schedule was used to interview 24 foster parents, who were selected from a government family foster care register, in two regions of Malawi. The study revealed that cultural factors influenced various aspects of family foster care, ranging from the caregivers' decision to foster children to the caregivers' determination not to disclose to the children that they were fostered. Social and economic factors also played a role, particularly with regard to some shortcomings in service delivery.

AIDS-related beliefs, attitudes and intentions among Malawian students in three secondary schools.

This preliminary investigation into factors influencing the intention of Malawian secondary school students to engage in low-risk AIDS-related behaviours was based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). A total of 191 male and female subjects (mean age 19.32) from three secondary schools in Malawi filled in a questionnaire that sought to elicit their intention to use condoms and to stick to the one same sexual partner. The study lent support to the theory that intention can be predicted from attitudes and subjective norms, F(2,186) = 31.93, p < 0.001 for condom use and F(2, 187) = 15.23, p < 0.001 for sticking to one sexual partner. The results showed that, for the subjects, the intention to comply with these two behavioural regimens was predominantly under attitudinal control though one sub-sample's intention was under normative influence. The study also provided quantitative data on the sexual behavioural patterns of the subjects and used these data to furnish explanations of the main findings. Behavioural change intervention strategies in the light of the findings are discussed.

PIP: This preliminary investigation into factors influencing the intention of Malawian secondary school students to engage in low-risk AIDS-related behaviors was based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). A total of 191 male and female subjects (mean age, 19.32) from three secondary schools in Malawi filled in a questionnaire that sought to elicit their intention to use condoms and to stick to the one same sexual partner. The study lent support to the theory that intention can be predicted from attitudes and subjective norms [F(2,186) = 31.93, p 0.001 for condom use; F(2,187) = 15.23, p 0.001 for sticking to one sexual partner]. The results showed that for the subjects the intention to comply with these two behavioral regimens was predominantly under attitudinal control though one sub-sample's intention was under normative influence. The study also provided quantitative data on the sexual behavioral patterns of the subjects and used these data to furnish explanations of the main findings. Behavioral change intervention strategies in the light of the findings are discussed.