Ogboghodo E O, Adam V Y, Omuemu V O, Okojie O H
Department of Community Health, College of Medical Sciences, University of Benin, PMB 1154, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
West Afr J Med. 2019 May-Aug;36(2):165-171.
Lassa fever is of significant public health concern due to the high morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. There is need for the general public, especially those in the rural communities, to have adequate knowledge of Lassa fever as well as engage in proper measures that will prevent the occurrence of future outbreaks.
To assess the knowledge, attitude and preventive practices against Lassa fever of adult residents among a rural community in Edo State, Nigeria.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among adult residents of a rural community in Etsako Central LGA, Edo State. The participants were selected using multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using structured interviewer-administered questionnaires and data analysis was by IBM SPSS version 21.0. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05.
Four hundred and sixty-five respondents with a mean age of 34.6 ± 14.7 years participated in the study. Majority (89.0%) had heard of Lassa fever and of these, 82.9% and 85.3% had poor knowledge of Lassa fever and positive attitude towards preventive measures against Lassa fever, respectively. Over half (59.1%) had poor preventive practices against Lassa fever. Knowledge, attitude and preventive practice was found to be better among educated respondents.
The study showed a gap in knowledge of Lassa fever and preventive practices against the disease among the respondents. Adequate measures such as enforcing policies against bush burning should be put in place by all stakeholders to ensure that this gap observed is bridged.
拉沙热因与该疾病相关的高发病率和死亡率而成为重大的公共卫生问题。普通公众，尤其是农村社区的居民，需要对拉沙热有足够的了解，并采取适当措施预防未来疫情的发生。
评估尼日利亚江户州一个农村社区成年居民对拉沙热的知识、态度和预防措施。
这是一项对江户州埃萨科中央地方政府辖区一个农村社区成年居民的描述性横断面研究。采用多阶段抽样技术选取参与者。使用结构化访谈问卷收集数据，并通过IBM SPSS 21.0版进行数据分析。显著性水平设定为p < 0.05。
465名平均年龄为34.6 ± 14.7岁的受访者参与了研究。大多数（89.0%）听说过拉沙热，其中分别有82.9%和85.3%对拉沙热知识了解不足，对拉沙热预防措施持积极态度。超过一半（59.1%）对拉沙热的预防措施执行不力。发现受过教育的受访者在知识、态度和预防措施方面表现更好。
研究表明受访者对拉沙热的知识和预防措施存在差距。所有利益相关者应采取适当措施，如执行禁止焚烧灌木丛的政策，以确保弥合观察到的这一差距。
