Al-Abd Nazeh M, Nor Zurainee Mohamed, Ahmed Abdulhamid, Al-Adhroey Abdulelah H, Mansor Marzida, Kassim Mustafa
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Umaru Musa Yar'adua University, Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria.
Parasit Vectors. 2014 Nov 27;7:545. doi: 10.1186/s13071-014-0545-z.
Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is a major cause of permanent disability in many tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world. Malaysia is one of the countries in which LF is an endemic disease. Five rounds of the mass drug administration (MDA) program have been conducted in Malaysia as part of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) by year 2020. This study investigated the level of awareness of LF and the MDA program in a population living in an endemic area of the country.
A descriptive cross-sectional survey that involved 230 respondents (≥15 years old) living in the LF endemic communities of Terengganu state in Peninsular Malaysia was performed. Demographic, socioeconomic, and knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) data of the respondents were obtained using pre-tested questionnaires and were analyzed using SPSS software version 13.0.
More than 80% of the respondents were aware of LF and the common symptoms of the disease. Moreover, about 70% of the respondents that were aware of LF indicated that it is a problematic disease. Approximately 77% of the respondents indicated that filariasis is transmitted by mosquitoes. Two-thirds of respondents preferred hospital treatment for illness; however, only 12% had participated and/or received treatment for LF during an MDA program. Only 35% of the respondents that participated in this research were aware of the MDA program that had taken place in the area. None of the respondents had knowledge of the drug used in the treatment of LF. The findings from this research indicated that there was no significant association between LF awareness and with gender, age group, educational status, occupation, or socio-economic status of the respondents (P >0.05).
A good proportion of the respondents are aware of LF, its mode of transmission and symptoms, however they demonstrated a poor knowledge of MDA which took place in the study area. For greater understanding of LF in the Malaysian population, there is a need for an enhancement in the delivery of health education and information programs and mass mobilization campaigns in endemic communities.
淋巴丝虫病（LF）是世界上许多热带和亚热带国家永久性残疾的主要原因。马来西亚是淋巴丝虫病的流行国家之一。作为到2020年消除淋巴丝虫病全球计划（GPELF）的一部分，马来西亚已开展了五轮大规模药物治疗（MDA）项目。本研究调查了该国流行地区人群对淋巴丝虫病和MDA项目的认知水平。
对马来西亚半岛丁加奴州淋巴丝虫病流行社区的230名（≥15岁）受访者进行了描述性横断面调查。使用经过预测试的问卷获取受访者的人口统计学、社会经济以及知识、态度和行为（KAP）数据，并使用SPSS 13.0软件进行分析。
超过80%的受访者知晓淋巴丝虫病及其常见症状。此外，约70%知晓淋巴丝虫病的受访者表示这是一种有问题的疾病。约77%的受访者表示丝虫病由蚊子传播。三分之二的受访者生病时更喜欢去医院治疗；然而，在MDA项目期间，只有12%的人参与过和/或接受过淋巴丝虫病治疗。参与本研究的受访者中只有35%知晓该地区开展的MDA项目。没有受访者了解治疗淋巴丝虫病所用的药物。本研究结果表明，淋巴丝虫病认知与受访者的性别、年龄组、教育程度、职业或社会经济地位之间无显著关联（P>0.05）。
相当一部分受访者知晓淋巴丝虫病、其传播方式和症状，但他们对研究地区开展的MDA项目了解甚少。为了让马来西亚民众更好地了解淋巴丝虫病，有必要加强在流行社区开展健康教育和信息项目以及大规模动员活动。
