Inusah Abdul-Wahab, Collins Gbeti, Dzomeku Peter, Head Michael, Ziblim Shamsu-Deen
Department of Global and International Health, School of Public Health, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Department of Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2023 Mar 16;3(3):e0000733. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000733. eCollection 2023.
Despite the government and global health initiatives toward yellow fever epidemic control in Ghana, the country continues to witness sporadic outbreaks of yellow fever mostly among the unvaccinated population and suspected migrates(nomadic) who enter the country. Little is known about nomadic knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding this communicable disease in Ghana. We conducted a community-based cross-sectional survey in 22 yellow fever outbreak communities to assess nomadic household heads' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding yellow fever after an outbreak in November 2021 outbreak. Our study results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistics regression with dichotomous outcomes. Significant statistics were obtained from multivariate analysis. About 90% of the nomadic had poor knowledge of the signs and symptoms of yellow with only 16% knowing the vector that transmits yellow fever. The most common source of information on yellow fever was the health campaign. Over 80% of household heads surveyed had positive attitudes regarding yellow fever with about 84% worried about the disease outbreak in their community. In a multivariate logistic regression model, age group(AOR = 2.79; 95% CI: 1.31, 5.98, p = 0.008)., gender ideology(AOR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.14-4.51, p = 0.019), occupation(AOR = 15.65; 95% CI: 7.02, 34.87, p<0.001), source of health information(AOR = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.96, p = 0.043), duration of stay in the community(AOR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.31, 5.98, p = 0.008) and nationality (AOR = 0.22; 95% CI:0.47, 0.47, p<0.001) were associated with positive attitudes towards yellow fever. Close to 74% have a positive practice, with 97.3% controlling mosquitoes in their household. Nationality (AOR = 3.85; 95% CI: 2.26, 6.56, p<0.001), duration of stay in the community (AOR = 1.06; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.10, p = 0.001), and age group(AOR = 040; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.73, p = 0.003) were associated with positive practices. Our findings show that yellow fever KAP was variable with clear knowledge gaps. Regular locally-tailored education and health promotion campaigns should be considered to improve knowledge and preventive practices against this infectious disease.
尽管加纳政府和全球卫生倡议致力于控制黄热病疫情，但该国仍不时出现黄热病疫情，主要发生在未接种疫苗的人群以及进入该国的疑似移民（游牧民）中。在加纳，对于这种传染病，游牧民的知识、态度和行为知之甚少。2021年11月黄热病疫情爆发后，我们在22个黄热病疫情爆发社区开展了一项基于社区的横断面调查，以评估游牧家庭户主对黄热病的知识、态度和行为（KAP）。我们使用描述性统计、二元和多元逻辑回归分析二分结果来分析研究结果。多元分析得出了显著的统计数据。约90%的游牧民对黄热病的症状了解不足，只有16%的人知道传播黄热病的媒介。关于黄热病最常见的信息来源是健康宣传活动。超过80%接受调查的户主对黄热病持积极态度，约84%的人担心其社区爆发该病。在多元逻辑回归模型中，年龄组（优势比[AOR]=2.79；95%置信区间[CI]：1.31，5.98，p=0.008）、性别观念（AOR=2.27；95%CI：1.14 - 4.51，p=0.019）、职业（AOR=15.65；95%CI：7.02，34.87，p<0.001）、健康信息来源（AOR=0.27；95%CI：0.07，0.96，p=0.043）、在社区的居住时间（AOR=1.11；95%CI：1.31，5.98，p=0.008）和国籍（AOR=0.22；95%CI：0.47，0.47，p<0.001）与对黄热病的积极态度相关。近74%的人有积极行为，97.3%的人在家中控制蚊子。国籍（AOR=3.85；95%CI：2.26，6.56，p<0.001）、在社区的居住时间（AOR=1.06；95%CI：1.03，1.10，p=0.001）和年龄组（AOR=0.40；95%CI：0.22，0.73，p=0.003）与积极行为相关。我们的研究结果表明，黄热病的知识、态度和行为存在差异，且存在明显的知识空白。应考虑定期开展因地制宜的教育和健康促进活动，以提高对这种传染病的认识和预防措施。
