Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice about Dengue Transmission among Residents of Dengue Prevalent Zones of Rawalpindi

Abstract

Background: Over the past decade the incidence of Dengue Fever (DF) has increased substantially, and it has emerged as a major public health threat. The objective of this KAP study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regrading dengue fever. Methods: This Cross-Sectional Study was carried out in Dengue epidemic zones of Rawalpindi. One individual from each household (n = 110) was interviewed. KAP valuation was done by recording scheme. Data were analyzed using MS Excel and SPSS version 21. Chi-square / Fischer exact test and correlation were performed to check the significance of the association. Results: The Participants were from the age bracket of 17 to 26 years; the mean age was 20.2 ± 1.9 years. 53.6% were male and 46.4% were female, and most of them 59.1% were illiterate. A major source of information about infection was reported as news/ radio (73.6%) each, followed by newspaper 68.2%. The mean score obtained by participants was as: knowledge 6.19 ± 1.267; attitude 4.67 ± 1.2 and practice score 3.6 ±1.03. The correlation of these scores revealed a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude, and knowledge and practice (p value<0.001). 40.9% of respondents had sufficient knowledge, 54.5% had a good attitude and 64.5% had good practices. Cross tabulation results showed a significant association between knowledge and practices at p-values of 0.02. Conclusion: Overall score for all three categories seems not satisfactory. There is a need to improve the knowledge of the studied area population by involving the residents and health care professionals.