Positive impact of educational intervention on knowledge, attitude, and practice towards dengue among university students in Malaysia

摘要

Introduction Dengue continues to have a significant effect on the general population of Malaysia, particularly in urban areas, and it is important to ensure that members of the public have adequate awareness to curb the disease. Aim This study assesses the baseline knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) levels among university students and the impact of educational intervention on KAP levels. Subjects and methods The study consists of part 1 (baseline study) with 307 students and part 2 (impact of the intervention study) with 85 students. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to determine KAP levels. For part 2, baseline KAP was obtained before the intervention, and the post-intervention KAP was obtained after 1 month. Results In part 1, only 26.1% have a good knowledge level regarding dengue, but the majority have good attitude (88.6%) and practice (71.0%). In part 2, the knowledge levels obtained pre-intervention were poor (mean score, 10 ± 2.46), while attitude and practice were good (mean scores, 8.82 ± 1.35 and 6.92 ± 2.5, respectively). The mean scores post-intervention increased for all KAP domains after the health campaign with knowledge at 12.61 ±0.17, attitude 9.01 ± 1.09, and practice 7.11 ± 2.49. This study revealed that educational intervention was effective in creating awareness about dengue and that the social media is the most used and preferred source of information for respondents for learning about dengue. Conclusion Health authorities could implement a nationwide dengue awareness programme focusing on social media and other media as a platform to disseminate information regarding disease and outbreaks and to promote healthy lifestyles.