Department of Specialty Medicine, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA, USA.
Department of Public Health, Des Moines University College of Health Sciences, Des Moines, IA, USA.
Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2019 Dec;147(3):313-318. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.12957. Epub 2019 Sep 12.
To assess knowledge of the Zika virus (ZIKV), use of contraceptives, and sources of health information in rural communities in the Dominican Republic.
Over 4 days in March 2017, a research team traveled to four rural communities in the Dominican Republic to provide healthcare services. Overall, 90 men and women consented to a voluntary verbal 12-question survey.
Of the participants, 55% were not certain whether ZIKV is transmitted sexually; 75% of participants were either not sure or thought ZIKV was not present in their community. Charlas (informal discussions led by community health workers) were cited as the most common source for public health information. Prevalence of contraceptive use was 26.6% hormonal and 1.1% long-acting reversible contraception (LARC); 30.0% cited no use of contraception.
Significant deficits in ZIKV knowledge, underutilization of LARCs, and socioeconomic factors exist that constrain the application of WHO recommendations for preventing ZIKV infection. Additional and more robust surveys are needed to assess public health education and interventions, critical for disease prevention in communities facing current and future epidemics.
评估多米尼加共和国农村社区对寨卡病毒（ZIKV）的认知、避孕药具的使用情况以及健康信息来源。
2017 年 3 月的 4 天时间里，一个研究团队前往多米尼加共和国的 4 个农村社区提供医疗服务。共有 90 名男女同意参加自愿的口头 12 个问题调查。
在参与者中，55%的人不确定寨卡病毒是否通过性传播；75%的参与者不确定或认为寨卡病毒不存在于他们的社区。Charlas（由社区卫生工作者主导的非正式讨论）被认为是公共卫生信息的最常见来源。避孕药具的使用情况为 26.6%的激素和 1.1%的长效可逆避孕（LARC）；30.0%的人表示没有使用避孕药具。
寨卡病毒知识存在明显不足，LARCs 的使用率较低，社会经济因素限制了世卫组织预防寨卡病毒感染建议的应用。需要进行更多和更有力的调查，以评估公共卫生教育和干预措施，这对于面临当前和未来疫情的社区的疾病预防至关重要。
