Lymphatic filariasis in Peninsular Malaysia: a cross-sectional survey of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of residents

Abstract

BackgroundLymphatic filariasis (LF) is a major cause of permanent disability in many tropical and sub-tropical countries of the world. Malaysia is one of the countries in which LF is an endemic disease. Five rounds of the mass drug administration (MDA) program have been conducted in Malaysia as part of the Global Program to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) by year 2020. This study investigated the level of awareness of LF and the MDA program in a population living in an endemic area of the country.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional survey that involved 230 respondents (≥15 years old) living in the LF endemic communities of Terengganu state in Peninsular Malaysia was performed. Demographic, socioeconomic, and knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) data of the respondents were obtained using pre-tested questionnaires and were analyzed using SPSS software version 13.0.ResultsMore than 80% of the respondents were aware of LF and the common symptoms of the disease. Moreover, about 70% of the respondents that were aware of LF indicated that it is a problematic disease. Approximately 77% of the respondents indicated that filariasis is transmitted by mosquitoes. Two-thirds of respondents preferred hospital treatment for illness; however, only 12% had participated and/or received treatment for LF during an MDA program. Only 35% of the respondents that participated in this research were aware of the MDA program that had taken place in the area. None of the respondents had knowledge of the drug used in the treatment of LF. The findings from this research indicated that there was no significant association between LF awareness and with gender, age group, educational status, occupation, or socio-economic status of the respondents (P >0.05).ConclusionA good proportion of the respondents are aware of LF, its mode of transmission and symptoms, however they demonstrated a poor knowledge of MDA which took place in the study area. For greater understanding of LF in the Malaysian population, there is a need for an enhancement in the delivery of health education and information programs and mass mobilization campaigns in endemic communities.

Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding lymphatic filariasis: study on systematic noncompliance with mass drug administration

“…However, despite their knowledge of LF, this did not seem to affect their low compliance with MDA. Studies conducted on populations in endemic areas in India 29 , Tanzania 30 and Malaysia 31 revealed that there were individuals with little or no awareness of LF, even though the areas were considered endemic.…”

Factors Associated with the Acceptability of Mass Drug Administration for Filariasis: A Systematic Review

“…However, a study in Malaysia showed that the knowledge regarding filariasis is still low in even in areas endemic for the disease [32]. This was most likely due to a lack of awareness and health education programmes, as some of the endemic areas in Malaysia were in rural areas that were difficult to access via main roads [32,33]. Furthermore, knowledge transfer took place mostly in school programmes and may not have reached the entire community, particularly adults.…”

Lymphatic filariasis in Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In Malaysia, LF has been reported with two agents: W. bancrofti and B. malayi (Al-Abd et al 2014). The first report of LF we noted in the literature dates to 1968, but no details were available (Yap et al 1968).…”

“…The earliest report we could find described microfilaria as sub-periodic B. malayi in (Rubis et al 1981). The disease is not widespread in the country, and occurs only in some states of Peninsular Malaysia including Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor, and Johor as well as the very small Sabah and Sarawak regions (Al-Abd et al 2014). In Malaysia, an MDA program is being conducted with the two drugs noted earlier for India.…”

“…The program covered all endemic areas from 2004 to 2008. It appears that the program has not been completely successful and requires additional efforts to reach the WHO goals (Al-Abd et al 2014;Noordin et al 2017). In a study by Rahmah et al (Rahmah et al 2003) with B. malayi recombinant antigen for ELISA testing, among 5138 children in Malaysia, 0.35% showed seropositivity.…”