Knowledge, attitude and practices related to visceral leishmaniasis among residents in Addis Zemen town, South Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis (VL), commonly known as kala-azar is a systemic disease caused by parasitic protozoan species of genus Leishmania and transmitted by species of Phlebotomus (sand flies). It is a poverty-related disease and associated with malnutrition, displacement, poor housing, weakness of the immune system and lack of resources. For the success of prevention and control programs of any disease, the most important prerequisite is community participation. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of residents towards VL in Addis Zemen town, south Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsCommunity based cross-sectional study was conducted among residents in Addis Zemen town from February to March 2012. A total of 346 households were selected by using simple random sampling techniques from three kebeles in the town. Data was collected using structured Questionnaire. For knowledge, attitude and practice variables each right response was given a score of 1 while a wrong or unsure response was scored 0. Data were double entered and analyzed using SPSS-15 statistical software. The frequency distribution of both dependent and independent variables were worked out.ResultsFrom a total of 346 study participants (136 males and 210 females), 87.6% heard of the disease kala-azar. From participants who heard about kala-azar 93.5% males and 86.7% females had awareness about the disease. The majority (95.7%) of participants had favourable attitude towards the treatment of kala-azar whereas 14.8% didn’t use anything to prevent it. More than half of the respondents (68.6%) did practice proper methods for the prevention and control of kala-azar in the study area.ConclusionIn general our findings showed that the residents had good awareness and favourable attitude about the disease, but their overall practice about prevention and control of the disease was low. Therefore, our investigation call for continued and strengthened behavioral change communication and social mobilization related activities.

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“…And compared to attitude, knowledge had a higher correlation with the participants' practice. The findings of the present study indicated that the knowledge of the participants in the study was below average and this was consistent with the findings of previous studies [13,14] but it was not consistent with the study by Alemu [15]. Low awareness of the people about leishmaniasis is a serious alarm due to the rising trend of the disease in recent years and also, the serious and close attention of the Ministry of Health and universities of Medical Sciences on leishmaniasis is requured.…”

Visceral Leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) in Nepalgunj Medical College

“…The identified KA HH had a total population of 451 with 243 male and 208 females, 53.8% male and 46.1% females, Sharma BP et 13 al . In contrast to another study of Bihar where majority 14 (97.0%) of the respondents were males in the current study majority (50.5%) of the respondents were female, however it is supported by the study conducted in South Gondar where 15 majority of the respondents were female 60.7% .…”

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Related to Visceral Leishmaniasis in Rural Communities of Amhara State: A Longitudinal Study in Northwest Ethiopia

“…Also in the urban area of Libo Kemkem knowledge regarding causes was higher and more specific, as 68% of interviewee reported sandflies as the VL causal agent [19].…”