Ertel Rebekka Lund, Braae Uffe Christian, Ngowi Helena Aminiel, Johansen Maria Vang
Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Acta Trop. 2017 Jan;165:240-245. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.10.022. Epub 2015 Nov 1.
Health education has been recognised as a specific intervention tool for control of Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis but evaluation of the efficacy of the tool remains. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of a computer-based T. solium health education tool 'The Vicious Worm' on knowledge uptake among professionals and investigate attitudes towards the program. The study was carried out between March and May 2014 in Mbeya Region, Tanzania, where T. solium is endemic. The study was a pre and post assessment of a health education tool based on questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions to investigate knowledge and attitudes. A total of 79 study subjects participated in the study including study subjects from both health- and agriculture sector. The health education consisted of 1½h individual practice with the computer program. The baseline questionnaire showed an overall knowledge on aspects of acquisition and transmission of T. solium infections (78%), porcine cysticercosis treatment (77%), human tapeworm in general (72%), neurocysticercosis in general (49%), and porcine cysticercosis diagnosis (48%). However, there was a lack of knowledge on acquisition of neurocysticercosis (15%), prevention of T. solium taeniosis/cysticercosis (28%), and relation between porcine cysticercosis, human cysticercosis, and taeniosis (32%). Overall, the study subject's knowledge was significantly improved both immediately after (p=0.001) and two weeks after (p<0.001) the health education and knowledge regarding specific aspects was significantly improved in most aspects immediately after and two weeks after the health education. The focus group discussions showed positive attitudes towards the program and the study subjects found 'The Vicious Worm' efficient, simple, and appealing. The study revealed a good effect of 'The Vicious Worm' suggesting that it could be a useful health education tool, which should be further assessed and thereafter integrated in T. solium taeniosis/cysticercosis control.
健康教育已被视为控制猪带绦虫病/囊尾蚴病的一种特定干预工具，但对该工具的效果评估仍有待进行。我们研究的目的是评估基于计算机的猪带绦虫健康教育工具《邪恶之虫》对专业人员知识获取的影响，并调查他们对该项目的态度。该研究于2014年3月至5月在坦桑尼亚的姆贝亚地区开展，此地为猪带绦虫的地方性流行区。该研究是基于问卷调查和焦点小组讨论对一种健康教育工具进行的前后评估，以调查知识和态度。共有79名研究对象参与了该研究，包括来自卫生和农业部门的研究对象。健康教育包括1.5小时的计算机程序个人操作。基线调查问卷显示，研究对象对猪带绦虫感染的获取和传播方面（78%）、猪囊尾蚴病治疗（77%）、一般人体绦虫（72%）、一般神经囊尾蚴病（49%）以及猪囊尾蚴病诊断（48%）有总体认识。然而，他们对神经囊尾蚴病的获取（15%）、猪带绦虫病/囊尾蚴病的预防（28%）以及猪囊尾蚴病、人体囊尾蚴病和绦虫病之间的关系（32%）缺乏了解。总体而言，研究对象的知识在健康教育后即刻（p = 0.001）和两周后（p < 0.001）均有显著提高，并且在健康教育后即刻和两周后，大多数方面的特定知识也有显著改善。焦点小组讨论显示对该项目持积极态度，研究对象认为《邪恶之虫》有效、简单且有吸引力。该研究揭示了《邪恶之虫》的良好效果，表明它可能是一种有用的健康教育工具，应进一步评估并随后纳入猪带绦虫病/囊尾蚴病的控制工作中。
