Awareness regarding Dengue among Adults of Pokhara-30, Kaski

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue is a mosquito borne viral infection that is a major public health concern in recent decades. Nearly 400 million people are infected each year, about 5% develop the fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome and almost 20,000 patients annually. Rapid urbanization, environmental changes and neglected areas (rural and slums) result in vector breeding causing rise in dengue outbreaks. The objective of the study was to assess the awareness regarding dengue among adults of Pokhara.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 162 adults of age 21 to 59 years residing in Pokhara-30, Kaski with purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using semi-structured interview schedule. The data were entered in to MS Excel and analyzed by using SPSS version 25. A Chi-square test was used to find the association between variables and level of awareness (good ≥ 80%, satisfactory 60-79%, and poor < 60%) on dengue.

Results: The study found that the mean knowledge score of the respondents was 25.85 ± 5.48. Among adults, 13.6 percent had good level of awareness, 50.6 percent had satisfactory and 35.8 percent had poor level of awareness on dengue. The level of awareness on dengue was significantly associated with respondent’s educational status (p = 0.017), presence of family member in health-related field (p = 0.021), source of information i.e. mass media (p = 0.017) and health personnel (p = 0.023) and exposure to awareness program on dengue (p = 0.002).

Conclusion: The findings of the study concluded that only few of the respondents had good level of awareness regarding dengue. This indicates an urgent need for planning and implementing the extensive dengue awareness programs to the community people through mass media and their active participation.