Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.
Int Health. 2012 Sep;4(3):210-9. doi: 10.1016/j.inhe.2012.03.005.
Community knowledge, attitudes and practices are important both for prevention of human deaths due to rabies and for control of the disease in animals. This study was a cross-sectional survey investigating the level of community knowledge as well as attitudes and perceptions about rabies in Gelephu, south-central Bhutan, a region endemic for rabies. A total of 615 household respondents were interviewed, of which 224 (36%) were male and 391 (64%) were female. The majority of respondents had a high level of knowledge, attitudes and perception of rabies and had a positive attitude towards the prevention and control of rabies. Multivariate logistic regression modelling showed that better knowledge of rabies was predicted by gender, educational level and dog ownership status of respondents, whilst health-seeking behaviour of animal bite injuries was predicted by dog ownership status, presence of children in the household and occupation of the respondents. The majority of respondents believed that stray dogs are a problem in the community and felt that it was important to control the dog population in Gelephu. These findings also indicate that there exists a knowledge gap about rabies in the community that could be improved by creating an awareness education programme.
社区知识、态度和实践对于预防人类因狂犬病死亡和控制动物中的疾病都非常重要。本研究是一项横断面调查，旨在调查不丹中南部盖勒浦地区（狂犬病地方性流行地区）的社区对狂犬病的认知水平、态度和看法。共访谈了 615 户家庭的受访者，其中 224 名（36%）为男性，391 名（64%）为女性。大多数受访者对狂犬病有较高的认识、态度和认知，对狂犬病的预防和控制持积极态度。多变量逻辑回归模型显示，受访者的性别、教育水平和犬只拥有状况预测了更好的狂犬病知识，而对动物咬伤的就医行为则由犬只拥有状况、家庭中是否有儿童以及受访者的职业来预测。大多数受访者认为流浪狗是社区的一个问题，并认为控制盖勒浦的犬只数量很重要。这些发现还表明，社区对狂犬病存在知识差距，可以通过开展宣传教育计划来加以改善。
