Aron Moses Banda, Munyaneza Fabien, Rosenthal Anat, Dullie Luckson, Krumkamp Ralf, Ndarama Enoch, Mailosi Bright, May Jürgen, Nhlema Basimenye, Sambani Clara, Hosemann Deborah, Rae Jade, Rahden Paul, Blessmann Jörg, Kreuels Benno
Neglected Diseases and Envenoming, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany.
Partners In Health/Abwenzi Pa Za Umoyo, Neno, Malawi.
Trop Med Int Health. 2025 Feb;30(2):84-92. doi: 10.1111/tmi.14071. Epub 2024 Dec 17.
Snakebite envenoming remains a public health threat in many tropical countries. While community knowledge of local snakes and snakebite first-aid and prevention are needed to reduce snakebite incidence and improve the outcomes for snakebite patients, it is poor in many communities. We assessed community health workers and community members regarding their knowledge on local snakes, snakebite first-aid and prevention in Neno district, Malawi.
In November 2022, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among 312 community health workers and 379 community members in the Neno District of Malawi to assess their knowledge of snake identification, snakebite first-aid, and prevention. Different questions were asked in these sections and summarised as linear scores ranging from 0% to 100%. Scores of 0%-49%, 50%-70%, and >70% were considered inadequate, fairly adequate, and adequate, respectively. Along with data collected during knowledge assessments, the socio-demographic characteristics of participants were collected. To assess knowledge differences between community health workers and community members, Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used, and linear regression was calculated to investigate possible predictors of knowledge.
Overall, 66.6% of participants were females with a median age of 39 (IQR = 30-48) years. Of the 89% (n = 615) who agreed to view snake pictures, only 1.3% had adequate snake identification knowledge. Less than 5% (n = 33) had adequate knowledge of first aid measures, and 14.3% (n = 99) had adequate knowledge of prevention practices. Overall, less than 1% (n = 3) had adequate knowledge across the three assessment sections, with no significant difference between community health workers (n = 1, 0.3%) and community members (n = 2, 0.5%) (p > 0.949).
Both community health workers and community members had inadequate knowledge regarding local snake species, first aid for snakebites and prevention measures. The effect of awareness campaigns and other education initiatives could be explored to help improve these gaps.
在许多热带国家，蛇咬伤中毒仍然是一种公共卫生威胁。虽然需要社区了解当地蛇类以及蛇咬伤的急救和预防知识，以降低蛇咬伤的发生率并改善蛇咬伤患者的治疗效果，但许多社区的这方面知识却很匮乏。我们评估了马拉维内诺区社区卫生工作者和社区成员对当地蛇类、蛇咬伤急救和预防的知识。
2022年11月，我们在马拉维内诺区对312名社区卫生工作者和379名社区成员进行了一项横断面调查，以评估他们对蛇类识别、蛇咬伤急救和预防的知识。在这些部分提出了不同的问题，并总结为从0%到100%的线性分数。分数在0%-49%、50%-70%和>70%分别被认为是不足、相当充足和充足。除了在知识评估期间收集的数据外，还收集了参与者的社会人口特征。为了评估社区卫生工作者和社区成员之间的知识差异，使用了Pearson卡方检验或Fisher精确检验，并计算线性回归以调查知识的可能预测因素。
总体而言，66.6%的参与者为女性，中位年龄为39岁（四分位间距=30-48岁）。在同意观看蛇图片的89%（n=615）人中，只有1.3%拥有足够的蛇类识别知识。不到5%（n=33）的人掌握了足够的急救措施知识，14.3%（n=99）的人掌握了足够的预防措施知识。总体而言，不到1%（n=3）的人在这三个评估部分都掌握了足够的知识，社区卫生工作者（n=1，0.3%）和社区成员（n=2，0.5%）之间没有显著差异（p>0.949）。
社区卫生工作者和社区成员对当地蛇类物种、蛇咬伤急救和预防措施的知识都不足。可以探索提高认识运动和其他教育举措的效果，以帮助缩小这些差距。
