Prevalence, Patterns, and Determinants of Malaria and Malnutrition in Douala, Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Community-Based Study.

Background: Malaria and malnutrition are major public health problems in developing countries. This studywas mainly focused on the prevalence, patterns, and predictors of these conditions and their associations.

Methods: A cross-sectional community study was conducted from February to March 2018 among 281 participants living in two districts in Douala. A questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic information and parasitological and anthropometric data of participants. Nutritional status was determined using age, weight, and height. Body mass index for age (BMIAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ) scores were computed based on the World Health Organization growth reference curves. Malaria infection was diagnosed using light-emitting diode fluorescence microscopy.

Results: The overall prevalence of malaria was 18.9%, mostly asymptomatic cases. Malaria infection was associated with study site ( = 0.04), age ( = 0.01), WAZ ( = 0.0049), HAZ ( = 0.03), and BMI ( = 0.02). The overall prevalence of malnutrition was 43.1%, and stunting was the main form of malnutrition recorded in children under five years of age (23.6%). The risk of being stunted in this group was about quintupled in malaria-infected participants (ARR = 4.70; = 0.02). In those aged 5-19 years, the prevalence of underweight was significantly higher in malaria-positive individuals as compared to their negative counterparts ( = 0.02). The overall prevalence of malaria and malnutrition cooccurrence was 8.5% and varied with age ( < 0.0001) and study site ( = 0.04). . Malaria was associated with malnutrition among the study participants. Early detection and treatment of these ailments would reduce morbidity and mortality.