Morbidities and mortalities caused by malaria are still a serious issue in Nigeria, with the country accounting for 25% of malaria morbidities and 24% of malaria mortalities globally in 2018. Treated bed nets reduce the incidence of malaria, but not all Nigerians use them. This study aimed to examine the factors associated with treated bed net usage, including perceived severity of malaria, and the rural–urban differences in the relationship between socio-demographic factors and use of treated bed nets in Nigeria. The analytic sample size comprised 40,693 women aged 15–49 years. Poisson regression and bivariable and multivariable analyses were used to test the study hypothesis that women who agreed that malaria could potentially lead to death would be more likely to adopt malaria preventive measures, including treated bed net use. About 48% of the women slept under a treated mosquito net the night before the survey. Those who perceived that malaria could lead to death had a higher likelihood of using a treated bed net in the urban, rural and combined samples. However, in the multivariable model, the association between perceived malaria severity and use of a treated bed net was only significant for rural women (APR=0.964, 95% CI: 0.933, 0.996). The results unexpectedly suggest that rural Nigerian women who perceive malaria to be severe have a lower likelihood of using treated bed nets. Also, rural–urban variations in the relationship between the socio-demographic variables and use of treated bed nets were observed. Policies should consider the observed rural–urban dichotomy in the influence of perceived severity of malaria and other socio-demographic factors on women’s use of treated bed nets in Nigeria.

疟疾引起的发病率和死亡率在尼日利亚仍然是一个严重问题，2018 年该国占全球疟疾发病率的 25% 和疟疾死亡率的 24%。经过处理的蚊帐降低了疟疾的发病率，但并非所有尼日利亚人都使用它们。本研究旨在检查与经处理蚊帐使用相关的因素，包括对疟疾的严重程度的感知，以及社会人口因素与尼日利亚经处理蚊帐使用之间关系的城乡差异。分析样本量包括 40,693 名 15-49 岁的女性。泊松回归和双变量和多变量分析用于检验研究假设，即同意疟疾可能导致死亡的女性更有可能采取疟疾预防措施，包括使用经处理的蚊帐。调查前一天晚上，大约 48% 的女性睡在经过处理的蚊帐下。那些认为疟疾可能导致死亡的人更有可能在城市、农村和综合样本中使用经过处理的蚊帐。然而，在多变量模型中，感知到的疟疾严重程度与使用经过处理的蚊帐之间的关联仅对农村妇女显着（APR=0.964, 95% CI: 0.933, 0.996）。结果出乎意料地表明，认为疟疾严重的尼日利亚农村妇女使用经过处理的蚊帐的可能性较低。此外，观察到社会人口变量与使用处理过的蚊帐之间关系的城乡差异。