1Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
2School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021 Jan 18;104(4):1290-1296. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0306.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease and a worldwide public health problem that affects mainly high-risk groups. Characterizing knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among high-risk groups is important to develop appropriate prevention programs. Here, we performed a cross-sectional study among 300 visitors of a recreational forest in Malaysia to examine leptospirosis KAP and demographics. These variables were integrated to create knowledge and practice scores for each respondent. All respondents had heard about leptospirosis, and 87% of them correctly identified it as a disease. The majority of respondents had high knowledge (63%), positive attitude, and good practice (68%) toward prevention of the disease. However, there were gaps in knowledge, with 78% of the respondents indicating eating without washing hands as the major cause of leptospirosis transmission. Our final model identified that higher knowledge score was associated with higher practice score. Our results indicate that it is important to increase knowledge, especially on transmission routes of leptospirosis, among visitors in recreational areas. Moreover, more attention needs to be paid to promote good practice habits among visitors, targeting those at higher risk of being infected by leptospirosis to prevent potential outbreaks in the recreational areas.
钩端螺旋体病是一种人畜共患疾病，也是全球公共卫生问题，主要影响高风险人群。了解高风险人群的知识、态度和实践（KAP）情况对于制定适当的预防计划非常重要。在这里，我们在马来西亚的一个娱乐性森林中对 300 名游客进行了横断面研究，以检查钩端螺旋体病的 KAP 和人口统计学情况。将这些变量整合到每个受访者的知识和实践分数中。所有受访者都听说过钩端螺旋体病，其中 87%的人正确地将其识别为一种疾病。大多数受访者对预防这种疾病具有较高的知识（63%）、积极的态度和良好的实践（68%）。然而，知识方面存在差距，78%的受访者表示不洗手就进食是钩端螺旋体病传播的主要原因。我们的最终模型表明，较高的知识得分与较高的实践得分相关。我们的结果表明，在娱乐区的游客中增加对钩端螺旋体病传播途径的了解非常重要。此外，需要更加关注促进游客养成良好的实践习惯，针对那些感染钩端螺旋体病风险较高的人群，以防止娱乐区出现潜在的疫情爆发。
