Knowledge and socio-environmental risk factors in relation to urban arboviroses in Barranquilla (Colombia)

Abstract

Objective: To compare the level of knowledge about urban arboviruses and the socio-en-vironmental risk factors for their presence in neighborhoods of different socioeconomic status of the City of Barranquilla. Methodology: Descriptive-cross-sectional study, with simple convenience sampling. 100 surveys were applied in four neighborhoods, two from socioeconomic status two, and two from socioeconomic status three (25 dwellings/neighborhood), to evaluate the communi-ty’s knowledge about urban arboviruses and socioenvironmental risk conditions, for the presence of larvae and adults of the vector Aedes aegypti. The resulting quantitative data were analyzed using a Chi square-X2 test with 95 % confidence and a principal component analysis-PCA to study significant differences and inference of determining variables in ter-ms of knowledge and socio-environmental risk factors in the study area. The information was analyzed with the SPSS version 25 program. Results: Respondents from all neighborhoods recognized mosquitoes as transmitters of agents causing dengue, Zika or Chikungunya. Larvae and adults of Ae. aegypti, in intra and peridomicile niches as risk factors. Conclusion: No significant differences were found between the level of knowledge about arboviruses and the socioeconomic status of the interviewees. Regarding the socio-envi-ronmental risk factors, the neighborhoods of socioeconomic status two presented higher risk factors for the installation of arboviruses, being the presence of Ae. aegypti the main component. The presence of pets in the home, mosquito attractants, also have a high wei-ghting among the risk variables in the neighborhoods studied.