Knowledge and Preventive Measures on Leptospirosis among Residents of Flood-Prone Areas in Davao City, Philippines

Abstract

Leptospirosis has been recognized as an emerging global public healthproblem because of its increasing incidence in both developing and developedcountries. This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge ofleptospirosis among residents of flood-prone areas in Davao City.  Further, thisstudy determined the preventive measures undertaken by these residents andassessed whether these measures can be attributed to their knowledge on thedisease and to their demographic profile. The researchers used the descriptivecorrelationdesign and utilizedthreehundredfifteen randomly selected residents toanswera validatedthree-partSurveyQuestionnaire.Pearsonproductmomentcoefficientof correlationand Chi-Squarewereused to determine the relationship betweenthe respondents’knowledgeon leptospirosis,demographic profile andtheirpreventivemeasures.Findingsrevealedthattherespondentshavea moderatelevelof knowledgeon leptospirosisbut havea high levelof preventive measuresagainstitandthatthereisasignificantrelationshipbetweenthesetwo variables.Further,the study revealedthat among the demographic variables,onlyeducationalattainmentis significantlyassociatedtotherespondents’levelof knowledgeon leptospirosis. Moreover,analysis revealedthat sex, socio-economicstatusand length of stay in the areaaresignificantly associated to the respondents’ preventivemeasuresagainst leptospirosis. Keywords: Health, knowledge, preventive measures, leptospirosis, flood-prone areas,correlation study, Philippines