TY - JOUR
T1 - Strengthening the perception-assessment tools for dengue prevention
T2 - A cross-sectional survey in a temperate region (Madeira, Portugal)
AU - Nazareth, Teresa
AU - Teodósio, Rosa
AU - Porto, Graça
AU - Gonçalves, Luzia
AU - Seixas, Gonçalo
AU - Silva, Ana Clara
AU - Sousa, Carla Alexandra
N1 - PMID:24428823
WOS:000331291600005
PY - 2014/1/15
Y1 - 2014/1/15
N2 - Background: Community participation is mandatory in the prevention of Dengue outbreaks. Taking public views into account is crucial to guide more effective planning and quicker community participation in preventing campaigns. This study aims to assess community perceptions of Madeira population in order to explore their involvement in the A. aegypti's control and reinforce health-educational planning. Due to the lack of accurate methodologies for measuring perception, a new tool to assess the community's perceptions was built. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was performed in the Island's aegypti-infested area, exploring residents' perceptions regarding most critical community behaviour: aegypti-source reduction and their domestic aegypti-breeding sites. A novel tool defining five essential topics which underlie the source reduction's awareness and accession was built, herein called Essential-Perception EP analysis. Results: Of 1276 individuals, 1182 completed the questionnaire 92 · 6%. EP-Score analysis revealed that community's perceptions were scarce, inconsistent and possibly incorrect. Most of the population (99 · 6%) did not completely understood the five essential topics explored. An average of 54 · 2% of residents only partially understood each essential topic, revealing inconsistencies in their understanding. Each resident apparently believed in an average of four false assumptions/myths. Significant association (p
AB - Background: Community participation is mandatory in the prevention of Dengue outbreaks. Taking public views into account is crucial to guide more effective planning and quicker community participation in preventing campaigns. This study aims to assess community perceptions of Madeira population in order to explore their involvement in the A. aegypti's control and reinforce health-educational planning. Due to the lack of accurate methodologies for measuring perception, a new tool to assess the community's perceptions was built. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was performed in the Island's aegypti-infested area, exploring residents' perceptions regarding most critical community behaviour: aegypti-source reduction and their domestic aegypti-breeding sites. A novel tool defining five essential topics which underlie the source reduction's awareness and accession was built, herein called Essential-Perception EP analysis. Results: Of 1276 individuals, 1182 completed the questionnaire 92 · 6%. EP-Score analysis revealed that community's perceptions were scarce, inconsistent and possibly incorrect. Most of the population (99 · 6%) did not completely understood the five essential topics explored. An average of 54 · 2% of residents only partially understood each essential topic, revealing inconsistencies in their understanding. Each resident apparently believed in an average of four false assumptions/myths. Significant association (p
KW - Aedes aegypti control
KW - Awareness and perception assessment
KW - Behavioural change models
KW - Community involvement
KW - Community perception
KW - Community-based participatory research
KW - Dengue prevention
KW - Domestic breeding sites
KW - Health education
KW - Knowledge-attitudes-and-practices surveys
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893392510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1471-2458-14-39
DO - 10.1186/1471-2458-14-39
M3 - Article
C2 - 24428823
AN - SCOPUS:84893392510
VL - 14
JO - BMC Public Health
JF - BMC Public Health
IS - 1
M1 - 39
ER -
