Dengue Fever Knowledge and Awareness Among University Students in Taiz Governorate, Yemen: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito-borne viral disease of great health threat in Yemen. DF is an endemic disease with many outbreaks in Taiz governorate. Among Yemeni communities, university students play an important role in increasing knowledge and good health practices to fight DF. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the DF knowledge and prevention awareness level of this community section.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was carried out between January and June 2023 among undergraduate students from public and private universities in Taiz City, Yemen. The sample size was 400 students. Participants from different academic levels of different colleges were selected using the stratified random method. Knowledge of dengue fever and prevention awareness was assessed using a validated questionnaire and face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire consists of three groups of questions: personal characteristics, general knowledge, and prevention awareness of DF. The question answers were dichotomous: correct and incorrect. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and and Odds Ratio (OR) at 95% confidence interval (CI) for association using SPSS 21.

RESULTS

The overall knowledge score of the respondents was 22.2% as good, 68.8% as moderate, and 9% as poor knowledge; meanwhile, that of awareness was 52.8%, 35.7%, and 11.5% respectively. The domain-specific percentages of correct answers were 57.3%, 61.9%, 83%, 55.3%, and 82.9% for symptoms, causative agent, transmission, clinical management, and prevention awareness. The medical students exhibited higher overall general knowledge and prevention than nonmedical students (OR, 1.912, 95% CI, 1.166-3.134;  = 0.013).

CONCLUSION

Most university students in Taiz exhibited moderate overall knowledge of dengue fever, with strong preventive awareness. Efforts should be made to increase knowledge levels and preventive awareness, specifically among university students, as this will empower them to take proactive measures against dengue fever and promote effective health practices within their communities.