Patients with positive malaria tests not given artemisinin-based combination therapies: a research synthesis describing under-prescription of antimalarial medicines in Africa

Table 3 Association of age with non-prescription of ACT among mRDT-positive patients

Project site	Age (years)	Total number (%) of mRDT-positive patients not prescribed ACT by age*	Unadjusted			Adjusted^†
Project site	Age (years)		OR	95% CI^‡	p value^‡	OR	95% CI^‡	p value^‡
Cam1	< 5	27/94 (28.7)	1.00	Ref.	0.112	1.00	Ref.	0.089
Cam1	≥ 5	35/166 (21.1)	0.66	0.40, 1.10	0.112	0.64	0.38, 1.07	0.089
Ghan1	< 5	15/406 (3.7)	1.00	Ref.	< 0.001	1.00	Ref.	< 0.001
Ghan1	≥ 5	14/899 (1.6)	0.41	0.30, 0.57	< 0.001	0.41	0.30, 0.57	< 0.001
Nige1	< 5	16/42 (38.1)	1.00	Ref.	0.218	1.00	Ref.	0.618
Nige1	≥ 5	141/493 (28.6)	0.65	0.33, 1.29	0.218	0.85	0.46, 1.59	0.618
Tanz1	< 5	64/153 (41.8)	1.00	Ref.	0.049	1.00	Ref.	0.077
Tanz1	≥ 5	24/84 (28.6)	0.56	0.31, 1.00	0.049	0.55	0.28, 1.07	0.077
Tanz2	< 5	247/1480 (16.7)	1.00	Ref.	< 0.001	1.00	Ref.	< 0.001
Tanz2	≥ 5	700/2916 (24.0)	1.58	1.31, 1.90	< 0.001	1.42	1.15, 1.76	< 0.001
Uga1	< 5	3015/37,287 (8.1)	1.00	Ref.	0.081	1.00	Ref.	0.063
Uga1	≥ 5	2862/51,473 (5.6)	0.67	0.43, 1.05	0.081	0.66	0.42, 1.02	0.063
Uga3	< 5	30/2239 (1.3)	1.00	Ref.	0.917	1.00	Ref.	0.898
Uga3	≥ 5	44/3358 (1.3)	0.98	0.64, 1.50	0.917	0.97	0.63, 1.49	0.898
Uga2^§	< 1	11/242 (4.6)	1.00	Ref.	0.017	1.00	Ref.	0.034
Uga2^§	≥ 1	46/3135 (1.5)	0.31	0.12, 0.81	0.017	0.32	0.11, 0.92	0.034

*n is number of patients per study site (and endemicity setting) not prescribed ACT among all mRDT-positive patients with complete data for age, gender, endemicity setting, sector, and intervention arm. Total number of mRDT-positive patients not prescribed ACT: N = 7291/104,454
^†All adjusted models included age and gender as a priori variables and where sufficient data available (≥ 10 outcomes per cell), plus all other variables found significant by univariate analyses (p < 0.05). Statistical models for each site vary in composition due to differences in study designs. Final regression models for each site include the following variables: Cam1—gender and age; Ghan1—age only; Nige1—gender, age, sector, and endemicity setting; Tanz1—gender, age, and endemicity setting; Tanz2—gender, age, and endemicity setting; Uga1—gender and age; Uga2—gender, age, and endemicity setting; and Uga3—gender and age
^‡Confidence intervals and p value calculated using Wald’s test
^§Uga2 age categories </≥ 1 due to primary study limited to patients aged under 6 years

ISSN: 1741-7015