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Authors:
Elvis Efe Isere*, Akinola Ayoola Fatiregun, Adewale Moses Adejugbagbe, Matthew Temitope Oluwole, Nosa Eniye Omorogbe, Omoju Temitope Olajumoke, Oke Jeremiah Ayokunle, Nigeria
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Abstract:
Cultural beliefs that contribute
to health behaviour patterns among communities and individuals have most times
been regarded as obstacles in the control of infectious diseases. Ondo State in
southwest Nigeria since 2016 has persistently recorded Lassa fever transmission
in 6 Local Government Areas (LGAs) annually, resulting in high case fatality.
Hence, identifying and understanding individual and community attitudes and
behaviour associated with the continued transmission of Lassa fever in the
State could aid the design of appropriate interventions focused on risk communication
efforts to reduce the transmission of the disease.
Methods: A
descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among community members in six
affected LGAs in May 2018. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to
2537 consenting respondents to assess their attitudes towards Lassa fever
transmission. Data analysis was
done using frequency, proportions, Chi-Square test and binary logistic
regression of predictors of outcome variable with statistical significance set
at p<0.05.
Results: The respondents’ median age was 41.0 (12-95) years with the highest
proportion in the age group above 36 years 1726 (68%). Slightly more than
half of the respondents 1283 (50.6%) were females. Respondents agreed (54.2%)
and strongly agreed (39.7%) that handwashing can prevent Lassa fever. Also,
47.7% agreed and 35.9% strongly agreed that washing dead bodies can lead to
Lassa fever infection. Most of
the respondents (98.3%) were positive or optimistic about the disease
transmission. On the multivariate logistic regression, the attitude was
statistically significantly associated with LGA location and educational level;
those in Idanre LGA and those with tertiary education had higher odds of
positive attitudes compared to those in Owo LGA and those with primary
education respectively.
Conclusion: The study found that the overall attitude of community
members was positive with little or no misconception, however, the extent to
which their attitude influences preventive behavioural practices needs to be
investigated to determine the risk communication activities that will have the
desired impact in controlling the outbreak.
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