Dengue fever; knowledge and practices of preventive measures among students of Bahawalpur city, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

To assess the knowledge and practice of preventive measures against dengue fever among medical students of Quaid-e-Azasm medical college and engineering students of Islamia university, Bahawalpur. Cross sectional descriptive study. September 2012 to December 2012. Quaid-e-Azam Medial College and Engineering wing of Islamia University Bahawalpur. Sample size calculated for study 8 by expecting prevalence of knowledge 78% in population of 1000 in each group with 5% margin of error and at 95% confidence interval was 263; by adding 10% response error sample became 290 for each population. Individuals for study were selected by simple random sampling and interviewed by using preformed questionnaire. Obtained data was analyzed by using SPSS version 11. For categorization of knowledge and preventive practices against dengue fever into good, satisfactory insufficient and poor scoring was done. knowledge of protective measures against dengue fever was found significantly better among medical than engineering group [p<.000]. Knowledge of personal protective measures against dengue fever was adequate i.e. more than 90% in both groups had knowledge. Knowledge regarding environmental protective measures as screening and spraying of rooms was adequate i.e. >85% while this knowledge with regard to covering of collected water, disposal of broken bottles and tins, daily change of water in room cooler and space spray was 50% or less. However, knowledge of biological control for mosquito breed with regard to use of snail was very poor i.e. 20% or less. As for as the practices of preventive measures were concerned both groups had no significant difference which were very poor in all aspects except screening of rooms which was more than 90%. There is dire need for improvement in both knowledge and practices of preventive measures against dengue fever among students and general population