title: Dengue in peri-urban Pak-Ngum district, Vientiane capital of Laos: a community survey on knowledge, attitudes and practices.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dengue remains an important cause of morbidity in Laos. Good knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among the public regarding dengue prevention are required for the success of disease control. Very little is known about dengue KAP among the Lao general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a KAP household survey on dengue conducted in a peri-urban Pak-Ngum district of Vientiane capital, Laos. A two-stage cluster sampling method was used to select a sample of participants to represent the general community. Participants from 231 households were surveyed using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although 97% of the participants heard of dengue, there was a lack of depth of knowledge on dengue: 33% of them did not know that malaria and dengue were different diseases, 32% incorrectly believed that Aedes mosquito transmits malaria, 36% could not correctly report that Aedes mosquitoes bite most frequently at sunrise and sunset; and < 10% of them recognized that indoor water containers could be Aedes mosquito breeding sites. Attitude levels were moderately good with a high proportion (96%) of participants recognizing that dengue was a severe yet preventable disease. Self reported prevention methods were quite high yet observation of the participants' yards showed use of prevention methods to be only moderate. The majority (93%) of the interviewees did not believe that they had enough information on dengue. There was an association between good knowledge and better practices, but good knowledge was associated with worse attitudes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a lack of depth of knowledge regarding dengue in Pak-Ngum community and observation methods revealed that more needs to be done by community members themselves to prevent the spread of Aedes mosquitoes.
authors: Faculty of Postgraduate Studies, University of Health Sciences, Vientiane, Lao PDR. mayfong@tropmedres.ac
authors: Mayfong
authors: M
authors: Mayxay
authors: Wanyuan
authors: W
authors: Cui
authors: Sounthone
authors: S
authors: Thammavong
authors: Khamphong
authors: K
authors: Khensakhou
authors: Viengnakhone
authors: V
authors: Vongxay
authors: Latdaphone
authors: L
authors: Inthasoum
authors: Vanphanom
authors: V
authors: Sychareun
authors: Gregory
authors: G
authors: Armstrong
mesh_terms: D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
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