Abstract:

Malaria is a global public health problem known to be a common cause of under five children mortality in the tropical area of Africa. The aim of this study was to compare rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy technique of malaria infection among patients attending General Hospital Minna, Niger State. A convenience sampling qualitative study was carried out on 300 consenting outpatients of general hospital, Minna in Niger state. Results of the study showed that most of the respondents were females 212(71%) and Most of the participants were within the age bracket of 11-20 years (41%). This demonstrated that transmission was higher among the young age than the elderly. Microscopy was positive in 179(59%) patients and RDT was positive in 185(61%) of the total study population while 6(3%) of those negative by microscopy were also positive with RDT. There was no significant difference when the efficacy of both tests was compared. The RDT used had a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 98% while microscopy had sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 72%. The RDT performance was extremely high compared to microscopy in this study. RDT can still serve as the first screening test for malaria diagnosis. However, the gold standard for confirmation of clinical diagnosis for malaria is microscopy examination. Rapid diagnostic test (RDT) offers rapid, timely, accurate and accessible detection of malaria parasites which is important for prevention and treatment.

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