Impact of an intervention programme on knowledge, attitudes and practices of population regarding severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in endemic areas of Lu'an, China

• Published in: Epidemiology and infection Vol. 146; no. 1; pp. 125 - 136
• Main Authors: LYU, Y., HU, C.-Y., SUN, L., QIN, W., XU, P.-P., SUN, J., HU, J.-Y., YANG, Y., LI, F.-L., CHANG, H.-W., LI, X.-D., XIE, S.-Y., LI, K.-C., HUANG, X.-X., DING, F., ZHANG, X.-J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-01-2018
• Subjects: Adult; Arachnids; Attitudes; Behavior; Bunyaviridae Infections - psychology; Bunyaviridae Infections - virology; China; Dengue fever; Disease control; Disease prevention; Female; Fever; Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome; Health education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health psychology; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Intervention; Knowledge; Male; Middle Aged; Original Papers; Phlebovirus - physiology; Population; Population (statistical); Preventive Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Public health; Rural areas; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Students; Studies; Thrombocytopenia; Thrombocytopenia - psychology; Thrombocytopenia - virology; Towns; Tropical diseases; Villages; Young Adult; Impact; severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome; intervention programme; KAP
• ISSN: 0950-2688; 1469-4409
• DOI: 10.1017/S0950268817002679

Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of the population regarding severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in endemic areas of Lu'an in China were assessed before and after an intervention programme. The pre-intervention phase was conducted using a sample of 425 participants from the 12 selected villages with the highest rates of endemic SFTS infection. A predesigned interview questionnaire was used to assess KAP. Subsequently, an intervention programme was designed and applied in the selected villages. KAP was re-assessed for each population in the selected villages using the same interview questionnaire. Following 2 months of the programme, 339 participants had completed the re-assessed survey. The impact of the intervention programme was evaluated using suitable statistical methods. A significant increase in the KAP and total KAP scores was noted following the intervention programme, whereas the proportion of correct knowledge, the positive attitudes and the effective practices toward SFTS of respondents increased significantly. The intervention programme was effective in improving KAP level of SFTS in populations that were resident in endemic areas.