Knowledge, attitudes and practices survey after an outbreak of chikungunya infections

Abstract

In 2007, the first chikungunya outbreak ever occurring in a temperate area of the Northern Hemisphere was reported in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The present study aims to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding chikungunya infection. Information was collected by standardised telephone questionnaire, administered to 325 people during a seroprevalence survey performed in the outbreak area. Most people (61%) knew that Chikungunya virus is transmitted through mosquito bites. A significant proportion of respondents perceived chikungunya infection as a high-risk disease (49.8%) and declared their intention to use mosquito repellents in the future (47.4%). Willingness to use skin repellents was more often declared by women, residents in households with children and people who knew infection transmission routes, while perception of high risk related to Chikungunya did not influence claimed future behaviour. Knowledge of the mechanisms of infection transmission was inversely related to risk perception: elderly people were less likely to know the disease than young people, but ranked the risk highest compared to younger age groups. Less educated residents were much more likely to perceive a high risk. After a chikungunya infection outbreak in a temperate area, where mosquito-borne infections have not been previously reported, only half of the study participants declared their intention to use individual protection in the future. Anticipated behaviour was not explained by the level of risk perception, but was associated with knowledge of the disease and demographic characteristics.

Modeling Insect-Repellent Use for Chikungunya Disease Prevention Among US-Caribbean Travelers

“…40 Similar findings have been documented by other researchers. 40 After analyzing the findings of several studies on use of health services, Rosenstock 20 concluded that relatively higher educated individuals were more likely to use health services. Lalani et al 16 reported a significant association between the female gender and compliance with use of insect repellents.…”

“…16,39 These investigations were based on the premise that "Health decision-making is a process in which the individual moves through a series of stages, " such that subsequent behavior is dependent on the interaction at each of these stages. 20 Early evidence for the relationship between demographic factors, health beliefs, and health behavior was provided by the study of Kegeles et al 40 They reported that within all age, income, educational, and occupational groups, women who believed in the benefits of taking preventive action made the decision to take a Papanicolaou test for detecting cervical cancer more than women without those beliefs. 40 Similar findings have been documented by other researchers.…”

“…20 Early evidence for the relationship between demographic factors, health beliefs, and health behavior was provided by the study of Kegeles et al 40 They reported that within all age, income, educational, and occupational groups, women who believed in the benefits of taking preventive action made the decision to take a Papanicolaou test for detecting cervical cancer more than women without those beliefs. 40 Similar findings have been documented by other researchers. 40 After analyzing the findings of several studies on use of health services, Rosenstock 20 concluded that relatively higher educated individuals were more likely to use health services.…”

Healthcare students and workers’ knowledge about epidemiology and symptoms of chikungunya fever in two cities of Colombia

“…Nevertheless, both cities improved knowledge regard transmission after intervention (> 97%). A study in Emilia-Romagna resident population (Italy, with a CHIKV outbreak in 2007), 61% answered correctly to that question [5]. This highlights the importance of information campaigns about CHIKV during outbreaks [2], such as is ongoing in Colombia and the Americas region.…”

“…Although its limitations, to the best of our knowledge this is the first study to measure the level of knowledge about transmission, epidemiology and symptoms of chikungunya fever in healthcare students and workers (HCSW) [1][2][3][4][5].…”