Factors associated with the timely diagnosis of malaria and the utilization of types of healthcare facilities: a retrospective study in the Republic of Korea.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyze trends in the timely diagnosis of malaria cases over the past 10 years in relation to the utilization of different types of healthcare facilities.

METHODS: The study included 3,697 confirmed and suspected cases of malaria reported between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2022, in the national integrative disease and healthcare management system. Some cases lacking a case report or with information missing from the case report were excluded from the analysis. A generalized linear model with a Poisson distribution was constructed to estimate rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for other variables, such as distance.

RESULTS: When cases involving diagnosis >5 days after symptom onset in confirmed patients (5DD) were examined according to the type of healthcare facility, the rate ratio of 5DD cases was found to be higher for public health facilities than for tertiary hospitals. Specifically, the rate ratio was higher when the diagnosis was established at a tertiary hospital, even after a participant had visited primary or secondary hospitals. In an analysis adjusted for the distance to each participant's healthcare facility, the results did not differ substantially from the results of the crude analysis.

CONCLUSION: It is imperative to improve the diagnostic capabilities of public facilities and raise awareness of malaria at primary healthcare facilities for effective prevention and control.