Knowledge and practices among healthcare workers regarding dengue in Togo

Abstract

In Togo where malaria is endemic, because main signs of malaria and dengue are similar, the use of malarial drugs first could contribute to a delay in the diagnosis of dengue and the dissemination of the disease. Thus, it is important that healthcare workers (HCW) have a good knowledge of these diseases. To assess the knowledge, and practices regarding dengue infection among HCW in Togo. A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2020 to March 2021 among HCW in Togo. A pre-tested digital questionnaire was used for data collection. Based on clinical signs of dengue, preventive measures, infection type and disease type, a knowledge score was constructed with eight questions. A total of 334 HCW with median age 32 years, IQR:(28-38) responded to the survey and the sex ratio male/female was 5.9. The majority (94.0%) of HCW have heard about dengue through training (73.3%), internet (38.0%) and media (33.2%). Compared with lower executive HCW, senior manager were more knowledgeable about the causative agent, the symptoms and preventive methods of dengue infection (p<0.001). Globally, good knowledge (score ≥6) about dengue was found for 47.1% of HCW. More than 9 out of 10 HCW (91.3%) reported the lack of dengue diagnostic tools. Providing health structures with dengue diagnostic tools and training health personnel in their use in any febrile patient with a negative or positive malaria test would help prevent dengue epidemic.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health care professionals regarding dengue fever: need for training and provision of diagnostic equipment in Togo in 2022, a cross-sectional study

“…This 2022 study in Kara, northern Togo, found that 49.1% of healthcare professionals had good knowledge of dengue fever, a figure similar to the 47.1% reported by Zida-compaoré et al in 2021 in Lomé, southern Togo ( 20 ). These results suggest a relatively low level of dengue knowledge among Togolese healthcare workers, lower than figures reported elsewhere.…”

“…Healthcare professionals who were absent or on sick leave during the data collection period and those who refused to participate were excluded from the study. Based on the last study carried out in 2020 on the same subject which reported a proportion of good knowledge of 47.1% in Lomé of Togo, we assume a level of knowledge of 50 % on dengue, a margin of error of 5% and a confidence interval of 95%, the sample size was initially calculated as 384 ( 20 ).…”

“…Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire including questions on professional socio-demographic characteristics and work environment, knowledge, attitudes, and diagnostic and treatment practices regarding dengue fever. The questionnaire, based on the 2009 WHO guidelines and a review of the literature on dengue fever, was pre-tested and validated before use ( 8 , 19 , 20 , 27 – 30 ) ( Supplementary File 1 ). All the researchers were residents training as public health specialists and medical students and had been trained by experts to ensure the quality of data.…”

“…In Togo, limited data exists on healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of healthcare professionals. A survey carried out in Lomé in 2020 revealed a low level of knowledge about dengue fever among healthcare professionals ( 20 ). Kara, Togo's second-largest cosmopolitan city, is near Burkina Faso, where dengue epidemics have occurred, raising concerns about disease spread ( 21 – 24 ).…”

Health professionals’ knowledge on dengue and health facility preparedness for case detection: A cross-sectional study in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“…There was no standardized tool for assessment of knowledge for dengue among health care workers as well as facilities preparedness for dengue detection. To ensure content validity, the questionnaire development was informed by a review of World Health Organization guideline for clinical management of dengue [9], past survey of dengue knowledge among health care workers [22,23,37,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49], and other literature describing diagnostics and management of dengue [50][51][52][53][54]. Furthermore, a Cronbach Alpha coefficient was used to measure reliability and internal consistency (coefficient = 0.813) which indicated high reliability [55][56][57].…”