Solomonnyamsoh Christopher, Ibe Sally Nkechinyere, Nworuh Blessed O, Igwe Leaticia Nnedimma, Asinobi Goodness Oluchi
Department of Public Health, School of Health Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.
College of Medicine Imo State University, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.
J Prev Med Hyg. 2024 Oct 31;65(3):E330-E343. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2024.65.3.3225. eCollection 2024 Sep.
Lassa fever (LF), a public health problem of great importance endemic in West Africa, is an acute and sometimes fatal viral haemorrhagic disease which leads to mortality. The current study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of Lassa fever prevention among adults in Bali Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria.
Descriptive study design and Cross sectional study design was used for this study. A simple and systematic random sampling technique was used to draw samples of 399 participants for the study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection after being validated and its reliability tested. The data collected was analysed using frequencies, percentage the hypotheses were tested using Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21, frequency, mean standard deviation, and chi square were performed to ascertain the value of the variables the hypotheses were tested using chi-square statistics at ≤ 0.05 level of significance.
Findings from the study revealed that 75% of the respondents had knowledge of the Lassa fever and the preventive practices. It was also shown that about 66.7% were aware of the varied preventive measures at their disposal. The study further shows that 56% had positive attitudes that could affect their practice of preventive measures of Lassa fever. The acceptability level according to this study was very high (89%) among the adults of Bali L.G.A in Taraba state.
The study therefore, recommends that there should be a call for educational intervention to improve the knowledge of Lassa fever among community members in Bali LGA this will help towards its preventive practices. This is based on the expectation that good knowledge of Lassa fever can reduce the rate and spread of the Infection.
拉沙热是西非一种极为重要的公共卫生问题，是一种急性且有时会致命的病毒性出血热疾病，可导致死亡。本研究评估了尼日利亚塔拉巴州巴厘地方政府辖区成年人对拉沙热预防的知识、态度和行为。
本研究采用描述性研究设计和横断面研究设计。使用简单系统随机抽样技术抽取399名参与者作为研究样本。在经过效度验证和信度测试后，使用结构化问卷进行数据收集。收集到的数据使用频率、百分比进行分析，假设检验使用SPSS 21版进行，进行频率、均值标准差和卡方分析以确定变量值，假设检验使用卡方统计量在显著性水平≤0.05下进行。
研究结果显示，75%的受访者了解拉沙热及预防措施。还表明约66.7%的人知晓他们可采用的各种预防措施。研究进一步表明，56%的人持有可能影响其拉沙热预防措施行为的积极态度。根据本研究，塔拉巴州巴厘地方政府辖区成年人中的接受度非常高（89%）。
因此，本研究建议应呼吁进行教育干预，以提高巴厘地方政府辖区社区成员对拉沙热的认识，这将有助于其预防措施的实施。这是基于这样的期望，即对拉沙热的充分了解可降低感染率和传播率。
