Objective: To identify factors associated with willingness to accept use of
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) for indoor residual household-spraying (IRS)
in malaria control in Rakai district Uganda.
Design: A household survey using multistage sampling.
Setting: Rakai, rural district in south central Uganda.
Subjects: household heads or their spouses.
Main outcome measures: Proportion of those that were willing to accept use of DDT
for IRS and factors associated with willingness to accept use of DDT.
Results: Almost all (90%) study participants were willing to have IRS in their homes,
however only 31% of them were willing to have DDT used for that purpose. The factors
influencing willingness to accept use of DDT for IRS ranged from reports of having
heard of other chemicals used in IRS other than DDT (AOR= 2.9, 95% CI= 1.3-6.5),
reports of malaria in the month prior to interview (AOR= 3.6, 95% CI= 1.6-7.9), if they
believed that treated bed nets prevent malaria (AOR= 2.9, 95% CI= 1.3-6.4) and DDT
controls mosquitoes (AOR= 2.7, 95% CI= 1.1-6.6). They were unwilling to accept use
of DDT if they reported that they had heard that DDT is poisonous/harmful to health
(AOR=13.9, 95% CI=5.2-37.0).
Conclusions: To improve the willingness to accept use of DDT at the community level
there is need to increase awareness of the high risk of malaria acquisition among the
population and address the fears of the risks posed to human health by DDT and
how these can be minimised.