Krishnamoorthy Yuvaraj, Chandar Deepika, Jayaseelan Venkatachalam, Vijayakumar Karthiga, Sivaranjini K, Vijayageetha M
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2018 Dec 28;7:171. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_81_18. eCollection 2018.
Dengue is the most common life-threatening arboviral infection contributing to 92 million infections worldwide. India alone contributes for 34% of the global burden. Success of dengue control depends largely on adequate knowledge and good practices of preventive measures. However, there is a need to find the existing awareness among the general population, especially in rural areas. Thus, our present study was done to determine the awareness, attitude, and practice measures regarding dengue fever in rural Tamil Nadu.
A community-based cross-sectional survey was done among 303 individuals belonging to the selected village in rural Tamil Nadu during November 2016. Information regarding sociodemographic details and awareness, attitude, and practice toward dengue were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Adequacy of knowledge and attitude was summarized as proportion with 95% confidence interval.
Among 303 participants, 204 (67.3%) were above 30 years of age; 196 (64.6%) were females; 255 (84.1%) were ever married; 149 (49.1%) were employed and most of them 93 (30.6%) were educated up to secondary level; 103 (33.9%) belonged to the Class 4 socioeconomic status. About 33.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 28.2-38.8) of the study participants had adequate knowledge and 56.1% (95% CI: 50.5-61.6) had positive attitude toward dengue prevention. About 57.7% (95% CI: 52.1-63.2) were practicing preventive measures.
The current study found that only one-third of the participants had adequate knowledge regarding dengue but more than half of them had positive attitude toward dengue prevention and practicing mosquito control measures. Hence, large-scale information, education, and communication campaigns need to done at frequent intervals for rural population.
登革热是最常见的危及生命的虫媒病毒感染，全球有9200万例感染病例。仅印度就占全球负担的34%。登革热防控的成功很大程度上取决于对预防措施的充分了解和良好实践。然而，有必要了解普通人群，尤其是农村地区人群的现有认知情况。因此，我们开展了本研究以确定泰米尔纳德邦农村地区对登革热的认知、态度和实践措施。
2016年11月，在泰米尔纳德邦农村地区选定的村庄中，对303名个体进行了基于社区的横断面调查。使用半结构化问卷收集社会人口学详细信息以及对登革热的认知、态度和实践情况。知识和态度的充分性以比例及95%置信区间进行总结。
在303名参与者中，204名（67.3%）年龄在30岁以上；196名（64.6%）为女性；255名（84.1%）已婚；149名（49.1%）有工作，其中大多数93名（30.6%）接受过中等教育；103名（33.9%）属于社会经济地位第4类。约33.3%（95%置信区间[CI]：28.2 - 38.8）的研究参与者有充分的知识，56.1%（95% CI：50.5 - 61.6）对登革热预防持积极态度。约57.7%（95% CI：52.1 - 63.2）采取了预防措施。
当前研究发现，只有三分之一的参与者对登革热有充分的了解，但超过一半的人对登革热预防和实施蚊虫控制措施持积极态度。因此，需要定期为农村人口开展大规模的信息、教育和宣传活动。
