A Study to Assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practices of Dengue Fever among the people of selected Urban slums, Coimbatore

 

Mrs. Kavitha. V1, Ms. N. Malarvizhi2, Ms. R. Maria Salomy2, Ms. Mebin. C. Sabu2,

Mr. Mohamed Naser S. R2, Ms. Monika. M2

1Asst. Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Nursing, College of Nursing,

SRIPMS, Coimbatore-44

2College of Nursing, SRIPMS, Coimbatore-44

*Corresponding Author E-mail: v. kavitha@rocketmail.com

 

ABSTRACT:

The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever, to find the association between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever and selected demographic variables and to find the relationship between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever among people. The samples were taken from urban slums of Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district. Sample of 100 people were taken. A self structured questionnaire was used to collect the demographic data and data on knowledge, attitude and preventive practices on dengue fever. The gathered data was analyzed by calculating the mean, percentage, standard deviation and coefficient correlation. The bar, pie diagrams and tables were used to present findings of the study. Finding depicts that majority of the participants were in the age group between 29 to 38 years, most of them were female, non workers, studied upto secondary education, had fair knowledge, and positive attitude on preventive practices of dengue fever. There was a significant association between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices on dengue fever.

 

KEYWORDS: Dengue Fever, Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practices .

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Dengue is the biggest arbovirus problem in the world today with over 2 million cases per year. Eventually dengue is one of the major public health concern and an emergent disease that contributes the annual outbreaks in India.

 

This increase is believed to be due to several factors including global warming and urbanization. It has developed as a genuine universal general wellbeing danger with half of the total population of these nations being at risk of this infection.

 

Of the five states worst-hit by the mosquito-borne disease, four are in South India:   Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Telangana and Kerala. South India is yet again hit by dengue as the killer virus has been spreading its tentacles in the country. The mosquito-borne tropical disease has so far claimed six lives and affected 6, 210 this year, according to information given by government in Lok Sabha on June 21, 2019.

 

Increase in the incidence of dengue is associated with higher average annual rainfall, according to a paper titled ‘Dengue burden in India: Recent trends and importance of climatic parameters’ published in August 2017. The paper compared dengue cases and rainfall in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala from 1984-2014. Kerala, which witnessed the highest annual average rainfall of 2375 millimeter during the period, had the highest dengue incidence-49278 per million populations, it found.

 

Variation in precipitation and temperature also directly affects the incubation period of the dengue virus, the paper stated. Decreasing the incubation period by five days can lead to three fold higher transmission rate of dengue and raising the temperature from 17 to 30 degree Celsius increases dengue transmission four-fold,’’ it added.

 

According to world health organization, the incidence of dengue has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades. Although the full global burden of the disease is uncertain, the initiation of activities to record all dengue cases partly explain the sharp increase in the number of cases reported in recent years.

 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A Study to Assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practices of Dengue Fever among People of Selected Urban Slums, Coimbatore District.

 

OBJECTIVES:

·       To assess the knowledge on dengue fever among people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore.

·       To assess the attitude on dengue fever among people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore.

·       To assess the preventive practices of dengue fever among people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore.

·       To find the association between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever and demographical variables among people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore.

·       To find the relationship between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever among people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore.

 

RESEARCH APPROACH:

In order to accomplish the main objective to assess the knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever among people of selected urban slums Coimbatore, qualitative research approach was adopted.

 

SETTING:

The study was conducted in Thanthai Periyar Veethi, Govinda Swamy Nagar, Maathiyan layout of Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district.

 

POPULATION AND SAMPLE SIZE:

The population of the present study was people residing in the urban slums of Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district.

 

The sample consisted of 100 people who were residing in urban slums of Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district.

 

 

 

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF SAMPLES:

a)   Inclusion criteria:

People who were above the age of 18.

People who were available at the time of data collection.

People who could communicate freely in Tamil and English

 

b) Exclusion criteria:

People who were not willing to participate in this study.

 

VALIDITY OF THE TOOL:

The tools were found to have high content validity. This was attained with the guidance and direction of experts in the specialty.

 

HYPOTHESIS:

H1    There is a significant relationship between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever among the people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore district

H2    There is a significant relationship between knowledge and attitude of dengue fever among the people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore district

H3    There is a significant relationship between knowledge and preventive practices of dengue fever among the people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore district

H4    There is a significant relationship between attitude and preventive practices of dengue fever among the people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore district

 

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:

A self structured questionnaire was adopted to collect the demographic data and data on knowledge, attitude and preventive practices on dengue fever.

 

DATA COLLECTION:

An official permission was obtained from the Commissioner of Mettupalayam for conducting study.100 samples who met the inclusion criteria were selected from urban slums of Govinda swamy nagar, Maathaiyan layout and Thandhai periyarveethi by using stratified sampling techniques.

 

DATA ANALYSIS:

The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics in which mean and its percentage was used to analyze the demographic data.

 

Chi square is used to find the association between selected demographic variables and knowledge, attitude and preventive practices on dengue fever.

 

Correlation coefficient (r) is used to analyze the relationship between the knowledge and attitude, attitude and preventive practices and knowledge and preventive practices.

SECTION I

1. DISTRIBUTION OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA:

Demographic profile consists of age, sex, religion, education and occupation.

 

Among 100 participants, 13% of people were in the age group of 18–28 years, 33% of people were at the age group of 29 – 38 years, 18% of people were at the age group of 39 – 48 years, 24% of people were at the age group of 49 –58 years, 10 % of people were at the age group of 59 – 68 years, 1% of people were at the age group of 69 – 78 years, 1% of people were at the age group of 79 - 88 years . 24 % of people were males and 76 % of people were females.7 % of people were Hindu, 6 % of people were Muslim, and 17 % of people were Christian. 12% of people were illiterate, 33% of people were primary, 43% of people were secondary, 8% of people were higher secondary, and 4 % of people were graduates. 41% of people were workers and 59% of people were non – workers.

 

SECTION II:

2. Assessment on Level of Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practices of Dengue Fever among the people: (n = 100)

2.1 Assessment on Level of Knowledge

Sl. No

Assessment on knowledge

No. of. respondents

Percentage %

1

Poor

0

0

2

Fair

61

61

3

Good

39

39

4

Excellent

0

0

The above table reveals that among the 100 participants, 61 % of people had fair knowledge, 39 % of people had good knowledge, regarding dengue fever.

 

2.2 Assessment on Level of Attitude Regarding Dengue Fever                                                     (n = 100)

Sl. No

Assessment on attitude

No. of. respondents

Percentage%

1

Positive > 2.5

94

94

2

Negative < 2.5

6

6

 

 The above table reveals that among the 100 participants 94% of people had positive attitude, 6% of people had negative attitude towards dengue fever.

 

2.3 Assessment on Level of Preventive Practices Regarding Dengue Fever

Sl. No

Assessment on preventive practices

No. of. respondents

Percentage %

1

Adequate

68

68

2

Inadequate

32

32

 

The above table reveals that among the 100 participants, 68% of people had adequate preventive practices, 32% of people had inadequate practices regarding dengue fever.

 

 

SECTION III

3.1 Association Between the Knowledge and Demographic Variables.

Sl. No

 

Demographic variables

Category

Knowledge

Value

Degree of freedom (r-1) (c-1)

Table value

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

1

AGE

18 – 28

0

8

5

0

15.426

18

28.87

29 – 38

0

19

14

0

39 - 48

0

12

6

0

49 – 58

0

14

10

0

59 – 68

0

6

4

0

69 – 78

0

1

0

0

79 – 88

0

0

1

0

2

SEX

Male

0

14

8

0

16.568

3

7.82

Female

0

48

30

0

3

RELIGION

Hindu

0

43

34

0

3.8

6

12.59

Christian

0

5

1

0

Muslim

0

13

4

0

4

 

EDUCATION

Illiterate

0

8

4

0

 

 

21.03

primary

0

22

11

0

8.858

12

Secondary

0

24

19

0

Higher secondary

0

5

3

0

Graduate

0

2

2

0

5

OCCUPATION

Workers

0

25

16

0

27.558

3

7.82

Non workers

0

35

24

0

 

It was found that  value for age is 15.426 and its table value  is 28.87.  So (=15.426) <( table value=28.87) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there will be no significant association between the knowledge and age.

 

It was found that  value for sex is 16.5688. So =16.5688) > ( table value = 7.82) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there will be a significant association between the knowledge and sex.

 

 

It was found that  value for religion is 3.8 and its table value is 12.59. So=3.8)< table value =12.59) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there will be no significant association between the knowledge and religion.

 

It was found that value for education is 8.858 and the table value is 21.03. So (=8.858)< (table value = 21.03) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there will be no significant association between the knowledge and education

 

 

3.2 Association Between the Attitude and Demographic Variables

Sl. No

Demographic variable

category

 

Attitude

value

Degree of freedom

 Table value

Positive

Negative

1

AGE

 

18 - 28

6

7

9.4636

12

21.03

29- 38

7

26

39-48

6

12

49 - 58

11

13

59 - 68

6

4

69 - 78

0

1

79 - 88

1

0

2

SEX

 

Male

24

0

2.3759

1

3.84

Female

69

7

3

RELIGION

Hindu

26

51

3.6846

2

6.99

Christian

4

2

Muslim

4

13

 

4

 

EDUCATION

Illiterate

6

6

7.546

4

9.49

Primary

7

26

Secondary

19

24

Higher secondary

1

7

Graduate

1

3

5

OCCUPATION

Workers

16

25

0.492

1

3.84

Non workers

19

40

 

It was found that  value for age is 9.4636 and the table value is 21.03. So ( value = 9.4636) < ( table value = 21.03) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there is no significant association between the attitude and age.

 

It was found that  value for sex is 2.3759 and the table value is 3.84. So ( value = 2.3759) < ( table value = 3.84) at 0.05 level of significance and hence there is no significant association between the attitude and sex.

 

It was found that  value for religion is = 3.6846 and the table value is 6.99. So (= 3.6846) < (table value = 6.99) at 0.05 level of significance. There is no significant association between the attitude and religion.

It was found that  value for education is 7.546 and the table value is 9.49. So ( = 7.546) < ( table value = 9.49) at 0.05 level of significance. There is no significant association between the attitude and education.

 

It was found that  value for occupation is 0.492 and the table value is 3.84. So ( = 0.492) < ( table value = 3.84) at 0.05 level of significance. There is no significant association between the attitude and occupation.

 

3.3 Association Between the Preventive Practices and Demographic Variable

Sl. No

Demographic

Variable

Category

Preventive practices

value

Degree of freedom

table value

Adequate

Inadequate

1

Age

18 – 28

5

8

12.9705

12

21.03

29 – 38

26

7

39 – 48

13

5

49 – 58

14

10

59 – 68

9

1

69 – 78

1

0

79 – 88

0

1

2

Sex

Male

6

26

0.7972

1

3.84

Female

17

51

3

Religion

Hindu

50

27

5.8979

2

6.99

Christian

15

2

Muslim

6

0

4

Education

 

 

Illiterate

4

8

18.6583

4

9.49

Primary

8

25

Secondary

14

29

Higher secondary

4

4

Graduate

2

2

5

Occupation

workers

11

30

0.8537

1

3.84

Non workers

21

38

 

It was found that  value for age is 12.9705 and its table value is 21.03. So (12.9705) < ( table value= 21.03) at 0.05 level of significance. So there is no significant association between the preventive practices and age.

 

It was found that  value for sex is 0.7972 and its table value is 3.84. So ( = 0.7972) < ( table value=3.84) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there is no significant association between the preventive practices and sex.

 

It was found that  value for religion is 5.8979 and its table value is 6.99. So ( =5.8979) < ( table value = 6.99) at 0.05 level of significance. So there is no significant association between the preventive practices and religion.

 

It was found that  value for education is 18.6583 and its table value is 9.49. So ( = 18.6583) > ( table value = 9.49) at 0.05 level of significance. So there is significant association between the preventive practices and education.

 

It was found that  value for occupation is 0.8537and its table value is 3.84. So (= 0.8537) < ( table value = 3.84). So there is no significant association between the preventive practices and occupation.

 

SECTION IV:

Karl Pearson‘s co-efficient of correlation (‘r’) was used to assess the correlation between the knowledge and attitude, attitude and preventive practices, knowledge and preventive practices of dengue fever among people of selected urban slums, Coimbatore district.

Co efficient of co relation

‘r’ value

Knowledge and attitude

0.3

Attitude and preventive practices

0.3

Knowledge and preventive practices

0.3

 

 

The above table 4.4.1 reveals that ‘r’ value of knowledge and attitude was 0.3. It indicates that there is a positive correlation between the knowledge and attitude regarding dengue fever. The ‘r’ value of attitude and preventive practices was 0.3. It indicates that there is a positive correlation between the attitude and preventive practices. The ‘r’ value of knowledge and preventive practices was 0.3.so it also reveals that there is a positive correlation between knowledge and preventive practices of dengue fever.

 

MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY:

1    Study found that majority of the participants were in the age group   between 29 to 38 yrs.

2    It was found that majority of the participants were female.

3    Majority of the participants belonged to Hindu religion

4    Majority of the participants were non workers.

5    Majority of the participants in this study undergone secondary education.

6    The study identified that majority of the people had fair knowledge about       dengue fever.

7    It was found that majority of the participants had a positive attitude towards dengue fever.

8    Most of the participants had adequate preventive practices on dengue fever.

9    It was found that there was a significant association between knowledge, attitude and preventive practices on dengue fever.

 

LIMITATIONS:

1    The study was limited with sample size of 100.

2    Data collection period was short.

 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY:

1    A similar study can be replicated with large samples for wider generalization of findings.

2    A comparative study can be conducted in different settings.

3    A structured teaching program can be conducted on dengue prevention.

 

CONCLUSION:

Health is human rights. Every individual has the rights to achieve it in this millennium. New diseases were emerging throughout the world. A health care professional is essentially a teacher and we have a responsibility to teach preventive measures and ensure that rights to every individual.

 

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Received on 25.09.2019          Modified on 18.10.2019

Accepted on 30.11.2019     © A&V Publications all right reserved

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2020; 8(1): 35-40.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2020.00007.1