KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE ABOUT DENGUE FEVER AMONG LOCAL POPULATION

Background: Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne infection that in recent decades have become an important global public health issue. It can be fatal but preventable. Public awareness, perception and behaviour play important role in its prevention and this KAP survey was done to asses this. Material & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out in Department of Community Medicine, Gomal Medical College, D.I.Khan from January 1, 2015 to April 30, 2015. A total of 100 respondents (patients/attendants) were selected by convenient sampling technique. Data was collected on a self administered questionnaire having nominal scale. Data was collected from local population at medical OPD of DHQ Teaching Hospital, D.I.Khan. Informed consent was taken from all respondents. Socio-demographic variables were age groups, gender, education, income of family, residence, language. Research variables were knowledge, attitude and practice. Scale used was nominal. Data was expressed in frequency, percentages and overall mean percentage. SPSS version 19 was used for descriptive data analysis. Results: All 100 respondents were interviewed and there was no missing data. Among 100 respondents 32% were males and 68% were females, 14% were illiterate, attended school 32%, college 24%, university 30%. Urbans were 68%, 32% were rural. 46%, 34% and 20% were Saraiki, Pushto and Urdu speaking respectively. 38%, 40% and 22% belonged to poor, middle and high income group. Overall knowledge about dengue disease was 60%, positive attitude was 92% and overall practice was 90%. Conclusion: Key findings of this study are that knowledge is low. Public be educated about dengue disease and its prevention utilizing all sources of information employing mass media, print as well as electronic. Health department must assume a leadership role in this regard.