Abstract

CABRERA, Rufino et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices about dengue fever in elementary school students in Chorrillos, Lima, Peru. An. Fac. med. [online]. 2016, vol.77, n.2, pp.129-135. ISSN 1025-5583.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15381/anales.v77i2.11817.

Objectives. To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices on dengue fever, measures for prevention and control, and to identify factors related to unawareness in public elementary school students in the district of Chorrillos, Lima, Peru. Design. Cross sectional observational study. Setting. State elementary institution in Chorrillos district, Lima, Peru. Participants. Students of elementary school. Methods. In the year 2013, 142 students from fifth and sixth grade answered a survey questionnaire. We explored the perception among 12 school brigadiers using the projective technique. Main outcome measures. Knowledge, attitudes and practices about dengue. Results. In the study, 53.5% students were boys (76), mean age 11.2 ± 1.05 years old; 33.1% (47; CI95% 25.4-41.4) had basic knowledge about dengue; 53.5% (76) were able to identify dengue virus’ mechanism of vertical transmission; 29.6% of students (42; CI95% 22.2-37.8) were able to identify the larvae and 54.2% (77) identified the adult flying mosquito. Only 5.6% (8) and 2.1% (3) knew respectively of larvicides and using wet sand in flower vases as measures of control at home; 75.4% of the boys (75; CI95% 67.4-82.2) were willing to participate in active control of the mosquito vector, with statistical difference between boys and girls (p = 0.049238). Not having previous information led to not having basic knowledge about dengue (OR = 3.7; CI95% 1.7-8.3) (p = 0.0004676) Conclusion. The knowledge among students about clinical features, mode of transmission, vector and measures of prevention and control of the dengue virus were low because they had not received appropriate information.

Keywords : Dengue; Knowledge; Attitudes; Practice; Students; Projective Techniques.

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