Assessment of Dengue Fever Knowledge and Preventive Practices among the General Population of Jeddah

Authors

  • Abdullah J Al-Sahafi Assistant Director of General Directorate of Health Affairs for Public Health Division, Jeddah, KSA
  • Hassan Bin Usman Shah 2.Research Department, Directorate of Public Health Affairs for Public Health Division, Jeddah, KSA.
  • Mashal Mesfer Al-Sayali Directorate of Health Affairs for Public Health Division, Jeddah, KSA.
  • Najlaa Mandoura Research Department, Directorate of Health Affairs for Public Health Division, Jeddah, KSA
  • Soha Abdulgader Alhazza Dengue control program, Department of Public Health, Jeddah, KSA
  • Ola Akram Head of Research Unit, Directorate of Health Affairs for Public Health Division, Jeddah, KSA
  • Nora Al-Otaibi Dengue control program, Department of Public Health, Jeddah, KSA
  • Saeed Mahdi Al-Garni Head of Dengue control program, Jeddah, KSA
  • Moath Al-Johani Dengue control program, Department of Public Health, Jeddah, KSA
  • Emad AL- Mohammaadi Infection control Department of Ministry of Health, Jeddah
  • Abdullah Al-Garni Head of Infection control, Department of Public Health, Jeddah, KSA
  • Fatima AlGarni Research Department, Directorate of Health Affairs for Public Health Division, Jeddah, KSA
  • Reema Ahmed 4th year MBBS student, Royal college of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36570/jduhs.2021.2.1142

Keywords:

Dengue fever, Health Belief Model, Knowledge, Practice, Perceived Threat, Perceived Benefits, Perceived Barriers

Abstract

Objectives:

More than half of the world's population live in areas potentially at risk of acquiring dengue fever (DF). Evaluation of awareness and health beliefs regarding DF among the general population is important for devising disease control strategies.

This study assessed knowledge, health beliefs, and preventive practices against DF in different dengue endemic districts of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A Cross-sectional study was conducted in three dengue-endemic districts of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The community members residing in these areas were randomly selected by multistage stratified random sample method and interviewed individually using a structured validated questionnaire. Overall mean scores were calculated for knowledge, practices, and Health Belief Model (HBM) construct. Bivariate analysis using a chi-square test and multivariate regression analysis were performed to test the association between DF knowledge, practices, and predictors.

Results: Around 61% (mean = 11.18) and 52% (mean = 5.17) individuals had adequate DF knowledge and practices, respectively. Multivariate regression showed perceived mosquito control benefits (OR=1.857, 95% CI=1.078-3.199, p=0.026) and perceived barriers (OR=0.532, 95% CI=0.305-0.926, p=0.026) as significant predictors for adequate dengue knowledge. For dengue preventive practices the only predictor was their perception of mosquito control benefit (OR=1.864, 95% CI=1.109-3.134, p=0.019).

Conclusion: Overall, DF knowledge and practices were rather limited in selected dengue endemic districts of Jeddah. Adequate knowledge leads to satisfactory dengue preventive practices. Health beliefs remain significant predictors of both knowledge and dengue prevention practices. Findings suggest that HBM constructs can be integrated as ways of motivating for the adoption of preventive practices against DF.

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Published

2021-08-12 — Updated on 2021-08-16

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How to Cite

Al-Sahafi, A. J., Shah, H. B. U., Al-Sayali, M. M., Mandoura, N., Alhazza, S. A., Akram, O., Al-Otaibi, N., Al-Garni, S. M., Al-Johani, M., AL- Mohammaadi, E., Al-Garni, A., AlGarni, F., & Ahmed, R. (2021). Assessment of Dengue Fever Knowledge and Preventive Practices among the General Population of Jeddah. Journal of the Dow University of Health Sciences (JDUHS), 15(2), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.36570/jduhs.2021.2.1142 (Original work published August 12, 2021)

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 2

Section

Original Articles

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Copyright (c) 2021 Hassan Bin Usman Shah, Abdullah J Al-Sahafi, Mashal Mesfer Al-Sayali, Najlaa Mandoura, Soha Abdulgader Alhazza, Ola Akram, Nora Al-Otaibi, Saeed Mahdi Al-Garni, Moath Al-Johani, Emad AL- Mohammaadi, Abdullah Al-Garni, Fatima AlGarni, Reema Ahmed

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Articles published in the Journal of Dow University of Health Sciences are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/4.0/. This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium; provided the original work is properly cited and initial publication in this journal.