Community knowledge, attitude and practice towards cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic area Ochello, Gamo Gofa Zone, South Ethiopia

Nigatu Kebede; Alemayehu Worku; Ahmed Ali; Abebe Animut; Yohannes Negash; Wondwossen Abebe Gebreyes; Abhay Satoskar

doi:10.1016/j.apjtb.2016.01.018

Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine (Jul 2016)

Community knowledge, attitude and practice towards cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic area Ochello, Gamo Gofa Zone, South Ethiopia

Nigatu Kebede,
Alemayehu Worku,
Ahmed Ali,
Abebe Animut,
Yohannes Negash,
Wondwossen Abebe Gebreyes,
Abhay Satoskar

Affiliations

Nigatu Kebede: Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P. O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Alemayehu Worku: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P. O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ahmed Ali: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P. O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abebe Animut: Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P. O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Yohannes Negash: Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P. O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Wondwossen Abebe Gebreyes: Department of Molecular Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Abhay Satoskar: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2016.01.018
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 6, no. 7
pp. 562 – 567

Abstract

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Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of the community related to cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in an endemic area Ochello, Gamo Gofa Zone, South Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted community based cross-sectional survey among residents in Ochello from November to December 2014. The study area was purposely selected based on previous reports on endemicity of CL. Using simple random sampling technique, a total of 392 household participants were selected in the study area Ochello. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Regarding the responses given to knowledge, attitude and practice, a score of 1 was given for each right response and 0 for unsure responses. Data were double entered and analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20 statistical software. Descriptive statistics that include frequency and percentage were used to analyze the results. Results: In total, 392 individuals were participated in our study where 225 (57.4%) of the participants were males and 167 (42.6%) were females. Of all the total participants, 265 (67.6%) had heard of the disease, and 127 (32.4%) responded that they did not know CL. Based on the scoring results, 265 (67.6%) participants were knowledgeable about CL. Out of 265 participants who heard about CL, most of them [215 (54.8%)] had the attitude that CL was a problem in their area and had no positive attitude towards the treatment of CL. Approximately, 215 (54.8%) replied that CL was preventable. Majority of the respondents did not sleep outdoors and did not practice sleeping near vegetation with or without bed net. Conclusions: The current finding indicated that the inhabitants of Ochello developed good awareness and encouraging attitude regarding CL. However, their prevention and control practice was very low. Hence, the result of this study calls for organized community awareness creation through various means.

Published in Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine

ISSN: 2221-1691 (Print); 2588-9222 (Online)
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
Country of publisher: India
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Special situations and conditions: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; Science: Biology (General)
Website: http://www.apjtb.org/

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