Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies prevention among residents of Abuja municipal area council, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Abstract

IntroductionRabies is a fatal neglected zoonosis killing 55,000 people worldwide annually. It is endemic in Nigeria with 10,000 people exposed annually through dog-bites. To inform adequate intervention due to the rise in reported dog-bite cases, we assessed knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP).MethodsWe carried out a cross-sectional study among 224 residents in Abuja Municipal Area Council. We used structured questionnaires to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge and attitudes on rabies prevention. Knowledge score of ≥ 8 points based on ten-point domain question were regarded as satisfactory. We analyzed data using Epi-Info and Excel for proportions and associations were determined at 5% significance level.ResultsA total of 123 (55%) respondents owned dogs. One hundred and eighty four (82%) respondents had satisfactory knowledge on rabies prevention, about 87% knew where to get dogs vaccinated and would seek medical treatment from the hospital when bitten by a dog. Majority (58%) did not know the frequency of anti-rabies administration for dogs and 63.3% did not know the appropriate first aid actions following dog-bites. Of 123 dog owners, 35% would allow their dogs roam without restriction and 94% reported vaccinating their dogs against rabies. Dog owners were more likely to have satisfactory knowledge of rabies compared to non-dog owners (OR 7.8, 95% CI 1.0-62.0, p = 0.02).ConclusionKnowledge on rabies is satisfactory but with gaps in the frequency of dog anti-rabies vaccination, appropriate first-aid following dog bites and non restriction of dog movement. To prevent rabies, these gaps need to be addressed through public enlightenment and enforcement of dog movement restrictions laws.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards rabies: A survey of the general population residing in the Harare Metropolitan Province of Zimbabwe

“…While worrisome, these observations were not unique to our study. Similar findings were observed elsewhere on the African continent where several studies also found that the lack of knowledge of post exposure treatment was one of the most significant deficiencies in the knowledge profile of respondents [ 15 – 18 , 20 , 22 , 23 ].…”

“…While respondents in our study were never specifically asked whether they had their pets vaccinated at any point in time, these observations would suggest that approximately 43% of the owned dog population should theoretically have received their annual vaccination against rabies every year. Assuming this to be accurate, the results would be similar to findings from Uganda [ 17 ] and Kenya [ 21 ] where a low percentage of respondents (between 35% and 43%) reported having their pets vaccinated against rabies, and in contradiction to findings from Nigeria [ 18 ], Ethiopia [ 19 ] and Rwanda [ 20 ] where a much higher percentage of respondents (between 74% and 94%) reported having their pets vaccinated against rabies. Furthermore, this speculative vaccination coverage in the HMP (30%) is well below the recommended vaccination coverage of 70% [ 1 ], which could explain the persistence of the disease in the province.…”

“…The result of our study suggested that only 36% of the 798 respondents included in our study had an adequate knowledge of rabies, which was similar to what was observed in Uganda (41%) [ 17 ] but lower than findings reported from elsewhere in Africa, viz . Nigeria (82%) [ 18 ], Ethiopia (56%) [ 19 ], Rwanda (56%) [ 20 ], Kenya (67%) [ 21 ], and Tanzania (96%) [ 16 ]. Our findings suggested that the lack of adequate knowledge could be attributed to most of the participants having a good general knowledge of rabies, but lacking the comprehensive knowledge required to be truly knowledgeable about the disease and its prevention or control.…”

Social Media Use, eHealth Literacy, Disease Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviors in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study on Chinese Netizens

“…These results indicate that people who are older and have higher income or good health status are more likely to take measures to prevent COVID-19, which is consistent with previous findings [ 67 ]. Additionally, education and marital status were significant predictors in the existing literature; for example, in one study [ 71 ], the odds of having accurate knowledge of malaria increased as individuals’ educational levels increased, and unmarried people were found to be more likely to have positive attitudes toward rabies prevention than married people [ 41 ]. However, these variables were not significant in this study, perhaps due to the different social contexts.…”

“…Authorities are generally implementing additional measures to improve the level of disease knowledge among the public, with the aim of changing the attitudes of citizens toward public health prevention [ 40 ]. For example, disease knowledge can change attitudes and practices toward rabies prevention [ 41 ], levels of oncological knowledge had an impact on individuals’ decisions to consent to particular medical procedures [ 42 ], and higher public health knowledge was positively associated with more frequent handwashing [ 14 ].…”