IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i4p693-d139848.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Low Levels of Knowledge, Attitudes and Preventive Practices on Leptospirosis among a Rural Community in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Noramira Nozmi

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Suhailah Samsudin

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Surianti Sukeri

    (Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia)

  • Mohd Nazri Shafei

    (Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia)

  • Wan Mohd Zahiruddin Wan Mohd

    (Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia)

  • Zawaha Idris

    (Health Promotion Unit, Penang State Health Department, Floor 7, Bangunan Persekutuan, Jalan Anson, Penang 10400, Malaysia)

  • Wan Nor Arifin

    (Unit of Biostatistics and Research Methodology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia)

  • Norazlin Idris

    (Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia)

  • Siti Nor Sakinah Saudi

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Nurul Munirah Abdullah

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Zainudin Abdul Wahab

    (Health Department of Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya, Jalan Cenderasari, Kuala Lumpur 50590, Malaysia)

  • Tengku Zetty Maztura Tengku Jamaluddin

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Hejar Abd Rahman

    (Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Siti Norbaya Masri

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Aziah Daud

    (Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan 16150, Malaysia)

  • Malina Osman

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

  • Rukman Awang Hamat

    (Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia)

Abstract

Little is known on the knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices (KAP) of leptospirosis worldwide. This study embarked on assessing the KAP of leptospirosis among rural communities in Malaysia. A total of 444 participants (223 male; 221 female) aged between 18 and 81 years old were surveyed by using a self-administered questionnaire. A majority of participants had poor knowledge level (57.0%), unacceptable attitudes (90.3%) and unacceptable preventive practices (69.1%) on leptospirosis, and only 29.7% knew “rat-urine disease” as leptospirosis. Only 34.2% of the participants knew the bacteria could enter via wound lesions. Ethnicity and income were strongly associated with knowledge level and preventive practices, respectively ( p -values < 0.05). As for attitudes, ethnicity, income and education type were significantly associated ( p -values < 0.05). Only 36.5% of the participants were willing to see a doctor and did not mind if their house or surrounding area is dirty (59.7%). Surprisingly, only 32.9% had used rubber boots during floods. By logistic regression analysis, ethnicity was the only significant predictor for both knowledge level (an odds ratio (AOR) = 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.222–0.680) and preventive practices (AOR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.204–2.734). Ethnicity (AOR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.239–0.665), income (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.041–2.385) and education type (AOR = 3.69, 95% CI = 1.237–10.986) were strong predictors for attitudes. Among the KAP variables, attitude (AOR = 4.357, 95% CI = 2.613–7.264) was the only predictor for the preventive practices by logistic regression analysis. The KAP elements on leptospirosis are still lacking and poor health seeking behavior and attitudes are of our utmost concern. Thus, effective strategies should be planned to impart knowledge, and develop proactive approaches and good preventive modules on leptospirosis to this leptospirosis-prone community.

Suggested Citation

  • Noramira Nozmi & Suhailah Samsudin & Surianti Sukeri & Mohd Nazri Shafei & Wan Mohd Zahiruddin Wan Mohd & Zawaha Idris & Wan Nor Arifin & Norazlin Idris & Siti Nor Sakinah Saudi & Nurul Munirah Abdull, 2018. "Low Levels of Knowledge, Attitudes and Preventive Practices on Leptospirosis among a Rural Community in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:4:p:693-:d:139848
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/4/693/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/4/693/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph Arbiol & Pedcris M. Orencio & November Romena & Hisako Nomura & Yoshifumi Takahashi & Mitsuyasu Yabe, 2016. "Knowledge, Attitude and Practices towards Leptospirosis among Lakeshore Communities of Calamba and Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-12, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Suhailah Samsudin & Sakinah N.S. Saudi & Norbaya S. Masri & Nur Raihana Ithnin & Jamaluddin T.Z.M.T & Rukman A. Hamat & Zahiruddin W.M. Wan Mohd & Mohd S. Nazri & Sukeri Surianti & Aziah B. Daud & Mun, 2020. "Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude and Preventive Practice of Leptospirosis Among Healthy Malaysian and Non-Malaysian Wet Market Workers in Selected Urban Areas in Selangor, Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Surianti Sukeri & Wan Mohd Zahiruddin & Mohd Nazri Shafei & Rukman Awang Hamat & Malina Osman & Tengku Zetty Maztura Tengku Jamaluddin & Aziah Binti Daud, 2020. "Perceived Severity and Susceptibility towards Leptospirosis Infection in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-10, September.
    3. Nurul Natasya Azhari & Rosliza Abdul Manaf & Shing Wei Ng & Siti Farhana Bajunid Shakeeb Arsalaan Bajunid & Abdul Rahman Mohd Gobil & Wan Zuhainis Saad & Syafinaz Amin Nordin, 2019. "Gamification, a Successful Method to Foster Leptospirosis Knowledge among University Students: A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-12, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. SR Rathinam & Vedhanayagi & Balagiri Sundar & S Priya, 2019. "A Cross Sectional Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Leptospirosis among Rural and Urban Population of a South Indian District," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Mas Harithulfadhli Agus Ab Rahman & Suhaily Mohd Hairon & Rukman Awang Hamat & Tengku Zetty Maztura Tengku Jamaluddin & Mohd Nazri Shafei & Norazlin Idris & Malina Osman & Surianti Sukeri & Zainudin A, 2018. "Leptospirosis Health Intervention Module Effect on Knowledge, Attitude, Belief, and Practice among Wet Market Workers in Northeastern Malaysia: An Intervention Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-12, July.
    3. Mohammed Dauda Goni & Habsah Hasan & Nyi Nyi Naing & Nadiah Wan-Arfah & Zakuan Zeiny Deris & Wan Nor Arifin & Aisha Abubakar Baaba, 2019. "Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Prevention of Respiratory Tract Infections among Hajj and Umrah Pilgrims from Malaysia in 2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-11, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:4:p:693-:d:139848. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.