Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding leptospirosis among residents of riverside settlements of Santa Fe, Argentina

Abstract

BackgroundLeptospirosis is a global and re-emerging zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira spirochetes that are shed into the environment by infected animals. Humans can get infected via contact with animal hosts or contaminated environment. In Argentina, the highest annual incidences were reported in the province of Santa Fe, where epidemic outbreaks occurred during flooding events. This study examined the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding leptospirosis among residents of riverside slum settlements from Santa Fe after a major flood.Methods and findingsA cross-sectional questionnaire was administered to 113 residents of 3 riverside settlements from Santa Fe. The influence of knowledge and attitudes regarding leptospirosis on the likelihood that an individual will use preventive practices were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models. The majority of respondents (83.2%) had previously heard about leptospirosis; however specific knowledge about leptospirosis was limited. The results of the modeling efforts, show that the likelihood of using preventive practices was associated with having greater knowledge score, but not with more positive attitudes. We also found that females were more likely to use safer practices than males.ConclusionsEven though the majority of respondents had heard about leptospirosis, a high percentage of them had limited knowledge regarding the severity of the disease and its prevalence in the region. Our results suggest that public health interventions in these riverside communities should focus on educating the public on the multiple dimensions of leptospirosis in order to attain greater adherence to preventive practices instead of intending to change the perceptions or attitudes towards the disease, which did not have a significant influence. The key challenge lies in identifying effective strategies to reach the high risk group for leptospirosis here that is male fishermen, who spend most of the time in precarious campsites on the river islands.

Leptospirosis and its prevention: knowledge, attitude and practice of urban community in Selangor, Malaysia

“…Interestingly, this finding was similar to several other studies conducted both in urban and rural settings. For urban setting, studies from Trinidad and Tobago [28], Puerto Rico [29], Jamaica [30], Argentina [31], India [32] and Malaysia [25, 26] showed similar results. Meanwhile, a recent study in rural setting in Malaysia discovered most respondents had poor knowledge level as well [33].…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among young adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus amid the nationwide lockdown in India: A cross-sectional survey

“…Several studies have shown that the KAP level in individuals is associated with effective prevention and management of illness and promotion of one’s own health [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] . On the contrary, deficiencies in KAP are linked to poor health and maladaptive disease preventive behavior [10] , [14] , [15] . Thus, it is expected that KAP levels of people with DM will be the deciding factor in their battle against COVID-19.…”

Impact of Teaching Program Regarding COVID-19 on Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices among Student

“…The "KAP theory" is a health behavior change theory wherein the change in human behavior includes three successive items, namely, gaining the right knowledge, generating of attitudes and adopting of practice (16). Many studies have illustrated that the KAP level in individuals is associated with effective prevention and management of illness and promotion of one's health (16,17,18,19) because de ciencies in KAP are associated with poor health and maladaptive disease preventive behavior, (17,20).…”