Nikookar Seyed Hassan, Jafari Ali, Fazeli-Dinan Mahmoud, Shabani-Kordshouli Razieh, Yazdani-Charati Jamshid, Talebi-Hajikolaee Nasir, Enayati Ahmadali
Health Sciences Research Center, Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, Faculty of Public Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
General Administration of Prisons, Sari, Iran.
J Arthropod Borne Dis. 2023 Jun 30;17(2):165-174. doi: 10.18502/jad.v17i2.13621. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Bed bugs () are blood-sucking insects that bite humans usually at night and cause nuisance, psychological and social problems. These insects are considered a health hazard in densely populated places such as prisons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of inmates, soldiers, and prison staff regarding bed bugs in Mazandaran prisons.
This is a descriptive-analytical study in which 450 inmates and 210 staff (105 personnel and 105 soldiers) from prisons of Mazandaran Province were included in the study. Data on knowledge, attitude, and practice of the participants regarding bed bugs were collected using a structured questionnaire. To determine the relative content validity coefficient, the questionnaire was assessed by 10 specialists in terms of difficulty, inappropriateness, and ambiguity of the phrases. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's Alpha and then the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.
The maximum mean scores of knowledges, attitude, and practice between the three target groups were 16.42%, 44.07% and 71.21% respectively. Prison staff had the highest knowledge and practice, and inmates showed the highest attitude regarding bed bugs. There was no significant difference between the knowledge and attitude of inmates, prison staff and soldiers (P> 0.05) but there was a significant difference in their practice (P< 0.05).
Results of this study confirmed that all three groups of people in the prisons need appropriate education regarding all aspects of bed bug including its control.
臭虫是吸血昆虫，通常在夜间叮咬人类，会造成困扰、引发心理和社会问题。在监狱等人口密集场所，这些昆虫被视为健康危害因素。本研究的目的是评估马赞德兰省监狱中囚犯、士兵和监狱工作人员对臭虫的认知、态度和行为。
这是一项描述性分析研究，纳入了马赞德兰省监狱的450名囚犯和210名工作人员（105名监狱管理人员和105名士兵）。使用结构化问卷收集参与者关于臭虫的知识、态度和行为数据。为确定相对内容效度系数，由10位专家对问卷在表述的难度、不恰当性和模糊性方面进行评估。使用克朗巴哈系数测量问卷的信度，然后使用SPSS 20软件对数据进行分析。
三个目标群体在知识、态度和行为方面的最高平均得分分别为16.42%、44.07%和71.21%。监狱工作人员在知识和行为方面得分最高，囚犯对臭虫的态度最为积极。囚犯、监狱工作人员和士兵在知识和态度方面没有显著差异（P>0.05），但在行为方面存在显著差异（P<0.05）。
本研究结果证实，监狱中的这三类人群都需要接受关于臭虫各方面包括防治的适当教育。
