Willingness to seek malaria treatment among Togolese people

The way Togolese people judge their willingness to seek malaria treatment in health facilities as a function of a set of concrete circumstances was examined. Three hundred and thirty-one people in Lomé, Togo, were presented with 32 scenarios of a few lines depicting a situation of illness strongly suggestive of malaria, and were instructed to judge their willingness to consult in each case. The scenarios were developed according to a five within-subject factor design: (1) severity of symptoms, (2) cost of treatment, (3) caregivers' attitudes, (4) availability of traditional treatment and (5) family's attitude with regards to use of formal health services. All these factors had significant effects. The severity factor had the strongest effect, and attitude of the family had the weakest effect. The other three factors had more or less the same impact. Implications for health policy are discussed.