Conocimientos, actitudes y practicas sobre Dengue en un barrio de la ciudad de Cartagena de Indias

Abstract

Objective Identifying attitudes, practice and knowledge regarding dengue in a neighborhood of the city of Cartagena.

Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 870 people living in a neighborhood in the south-eastern part of Cartagena. Probabilistic, randomized, three-staged sampling was used; it was intended to ascertain attitudes, practice and knowledge about dengue. The Stata statistics package (version 11.1) was used for analyzing the data to determine the absolute and relative frequency for each variable studied. Results It was found that 93.7 % of those surveyed knew about the disease;

although 49.7 % did not know what the causal agent of the disease was, 80.5 % of those surveyed did express an interest. In receiving health education classes. 60.1 % of the population surveyed here stored water in their homes and 73.8 % used tanks as containers. 24.8 % of those surveyed stated that they avoided having/ using stagnant water.

Conclusions The residents confirmed the high incidence of dengue cases reported by the district health department. Knowledge about dengue was limited; risky practices favoring the diseases development were adopted, but an attitude towards controlling this issue was evident. Changes in current behavior patterns must thus be promoted in the community and also regarding how prevention and control programs are being carried out.