Capacity building to enhance knowledge and practices toward rabies among nursing students: A quasi-experimental intervention study in Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Background: Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease which is virtually 100% fatal once clinical symptoms appear. India contributes for 59.9% of rabies death in Asia and 35% of deaths worldwide. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the basic knowledge of nursing students on causes, consequences, and treatment against rabies and to examine the impact of a knowledge-empowering intervention on rabies among nursing students. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study with knowledge intervention but without control was carried out on 119 nursing students. A self-administered, pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess knowledge and practices toward rabies and a well-designed health education program imparted to nursing students. “Paired t-test” was applied to compare results before and after intervention. Differences in pre- and postqualitative responses were examined by the McNemar’s test. Results: Major knowledge improvement was seen after intervention in crucial aspects of epidemiology, prevention and treatment of rabies. There was no significant gender effect in average knowledge score on different aspects of rabies. Postintervention mean knowledge score (16.54 ± 2.40) was significantly higher over preintervention score (14.08 ± 2.61), P < 0.0001. Conclusion: Nursing students lacked adequate knowledge on causes, consequences and treatment against rabies, despite being the first point of contact with the rabies patients. The study findings clearly demonstrated a scope of significant improvement in knowledge after intervention.