Assessment of competence of participants before and after 7-day intensive malaria microscopy training courses in Nigeria

The accuracy of malaria diagnosis by microscopy has been a challenge in health facilities in Nigeria due to poor competence of microscopists and inability to report on malaria species other than Short microscopy courses were conducted to improve the skills of laboratory personnel to perform malaria microscopy in public health facilities in Nigeria. Seven-day malaria microscopy courses were conducted annually between 2011 and 2013 for microscopists in public health facilities. The training courses contained theoretical and practical sessions. Impact of the training was evaluated by practical and theoretical pre- and post-training assessments on malaria slide reading, parasite enumeration and basic malariology. The 102 participants who completed the training consisted of medical laboratory scientists (62; 60.8%), medical laboratory technicians (24; 23.5%) and other healthcare workers (16; 15.7%). The knowledge of basic malariology (theory) at pre- and post-tests were 34% (95% CI 31.7-36.3%) and 74.9% (95% CI 71.8-78.0%), respectively (P