Abstract
Primary prevention is the most effective measure in dengue prevention and control. The objectives were (i) to determine the level of knowledge and practice of dengue control amongst the study community, and (ii) to explore the factors affecting practice of dengue control in the study area. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a semi-urban Town of Malaysia, using a structured questionnaire covering sociodemography, knowledge related to dengue, knowledge related to Aedes mosquito and preventive measures against the disease. For comparison of survey responses, chi-square test was applied for categorical data. To explore the factors affecting the practice of dengue control, a linear regression model was introduced. Almost all of the respondents (95%) had heard about dengue. Overall, misconceptions of dengue transmission were identified and the practice of dengue control in the study population was insufficient. About half (50.5%) had misconceptions that Aedes can breed in dirty water and the preferred biting time is dusk or sunset (45.6%). Only 44.5% of the households surveyed had covered their water containers properly. Significant associations were found between knowledge scores of dengue and age (P = 0.001), education level (P = 0.001), marital status (P = 0.012), and occupation (P = 0.007). In regression analysis, only the knowledge of dengue was significantly and positively associated with practice on dengue control. A future study with larger samples and more variables to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of dengue control is recommended.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Health Organization. (2009). Dengue guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control. A joint publication of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). WHO/HTM/NTD/DEN/2009.1. from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241547871_eng.pdf.
World Health Organization. (2011). Dengue in the Western Pacific Region. from http://www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/9A62EAB1-48FB-492A-99F0-8D2AE737451E/0/0518Dec2010doc.pdf.
Vazquez-Prokopec, G. M., Chaves, L. F., Ritchie, S. A., Davis, J., & Kitron, U. (2010). Unforeseen costs of cutting mosquito surveillance budgets. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 4(10), e858. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000858.
Guha-Sapir, D., & Barbara, S. B. (2005). Dengue fever: New paradigms for a changing epidemiology. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology, 2, 1. doi:10.1186/1742-7622-2-1.
Poovaneswari, S. (1993). Dengue situation in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Pathology, 15(1), 3–7.
Hairi, F., Ong, C. H., Suhaimi, A., et al. (2003). Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) study on dengue among selected rural communities in the Kuala Kangsar district. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 15(1), 37–43.
Itrat, A., Khan, A., Javaid, S., Kamal, M., Khan, H., Javed, S., et al. (2008). Knowledge, awareness and practices regarding dengue fever among the adult population of dengue hit cosmopolitan. PLoS One, 3(7), e2620.
Kyu, H. H., Thu, M., & Van der Putten, M. (2005). Myanmar migrant woman caretakers on prevention of dengue fever: A study on knowledge, attitude and practices in Tak Province, Thailand. AU Journal of Technology, 9(2), 99–105.
Kroeger, A., Lenhart, A., Ochoa, M., et al. (2006). Effective control of dengue vectors with curtains and water container covers treated with insecticide in Mexico and Venezuela: Cluster randomised trials. BMJ, 332, 1247–1252.
Morrison, A. C., Zielinski-Gutierrez, E., Scott, T. W., & Rosenberg, R. (2008). Defining challenges and proposing solutions for control of the virus vector Aedes aegypti. PLoS Medicine, 5(3), e68. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050068.
Koenraadt, C. J., Tuiten, W., Sithiprasasna, R., Kijchalao, U., Jones, J. W., & Scott, T. W. (2006). Dengue knowledge and practices and their impact on Aedes aegypti populations in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 74(4), 692–700.
Vazquez-Prokopec, G. M., Kitron, U., Montgomery, B., Horne, P., & Ritchie, S. A. (2010). Quantifying the spatial dimension of dengue virus epidemic spread within a tropical urban environment. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 4(12), e920. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000920.
World Health Organization. (2002). Dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever prevention and control report of an intercountry consultation of programme managers of DF/DHF Batam, Indonesia, 10–13 July 2001 WHO/SEA, New Delhi June 2002 at http://203.90.70.117/PDS_DOCS/B3360.pdf.
Nalongsack, S., Yoshida, Y., Morita, S., Sosouphanh, K., & Sakamoto, J. (2009). Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding dengue among people in Pakse, Laos. Nagoya Journal of Medical Science, 71, 29–37.
Tsuzuki, A., Huynh, T., Tsunoda, T., Luu, L., Kawada, H., & Takagi, M. (2009). Effect of existing practices on reducing Aedes aegypti pre-adults in key breeding containers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 80(5), 752–757.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the participants in this study. We thank the medical director and staff of the Mantin clinic for their support and facilitation in data collection. We are grateful to Professor Hematram Yadav for his support and advice. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the students of IMU (ME 2/08, the Mantin group) for helping with data collection. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent any institutions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Naing, C., Ren, W.Y., Man, C.Y. et al. Awareness of Dengue and Practice of Dengue Control Among the Semi-Urban Community: A Cross Sectional Survey. J Community Health 36, 1044–1049 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-011-9407-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-011-9407-1