Knowledge, Attitude and Practices regarding Dengue among Outpatients and their Attenders in Three Primary Health Care Centres in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Introduction: Dengue is an arboviral disease transmitted by Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes with incidence of 50 to 100 million infections annually worldwide. Since no effective vaccine for Dengue is commercially available as of now, vector control programmes are of utmost importance in controlling the dis...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/12605/38149_CE[Ra1]_F(AC)_PF1(AJ_KM)_PFA(AJ_KM_SHU)_PN(SL).pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Dengue is an arboviral disease transmitted by Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes with incidence of 50 to 100 million infections annually worldwide. Since no effective vaccine for Dengue is commercially available as of now, vector control programmes are of utmost importance in controlling the disease for which assessment of community participation is crucial. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding Dengue among the outpatients and accompanying persons attending three Primary Health Centres in Coimbatore and to compare the knowledge scores between subjects based on their educational qualification. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional communitybased study conducted among 300 subjects within the age group of 18 to 75 years. The study was questionnaire-based and was conducted among the outpatients and accompanying persons visiting three primary health centres in the city within one month. The questionnaire had 20 questions (15 on knowledge, four on attitude and one on practices). Knowledge was scored from 0 to 23 and comparison of results were done between two groups (subjects who had studied below class 10 and subjects who had studied above class 10). Data analysis was done using SPSS software version 20.0 and independent t-test. The p-value<0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: Out of the 300 participants, 255 submitted completed questionnaires and the mean knowledge scores of individuals who had studied below class 10 and individuals with educational qualification above class 10 were 9.71 and 10.64 respectively and the difference in knowledge scores was statistically significant (p-value=0.014). It was found that persons with higher education tend to have better knowledge of Dengue; this signifies the need to focus health education efforts towards persons with lower education level by conducting awareness campaigns in the future. Conclusion: To conclude, majority of the present subjects had average knowledge of Dengue. The overall attitude and practices of the participants towards Dengue care, prevention and control are good. Thus measures to improve the community participation in Dengue prevention control and management has to be reinforced periodically through health education campaigns, mass media and creating awareness at individual level. |
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| ISSN: | 2249-782X 0973-709X |