Community Perception and Risk Reduction Behaviour in Control of Malaria and Dengue: A Study in the Slums of Bengaluru

Abstract

Background Mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue are major public health problems faced by the country. In the year 2020 there were 1555 cases of malaria and 3384 cases of dengue in Karnataka. The exponential growth of slums and poor sanitation practices have paved a way for these diseases. Many national programs aimed at controlling them were rolled out. The combined efforts of the government and the community are required for their effective control.Objective i To assess the perceptions of the community towardsthe prevention and control of mosquitoborne diseases like dengue and malaria in the slums of Bengaluru. ii To assess the risk reduction behavior in the slums of Bengaluru. iii To determine the factors associated with the risk reduction behavior.Methodology The present study is a cross-sectional study with mixed study methods. The study population included individuals aged 18 years and above residing in the urban slums in the field practice area of a medical college in Bengaluru. Based on a previous study conducted by Podder et al. the sample size was calculated to be 90. Sampling was done by systematic random sampling tools i Quantitative A validated semi-structured questionnaire ii Qualitative In-depth interviews with the household members regarding the factors associated with risk reduction behavior. Data collected were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed with SPSS 20.0 and Atlas ti software.Results Unsatisfactory knowledge scores and unsatisfactory attitude scores were observed in 52 and 56 of the subjects respectively. Only 49 of subjects regularly practiced risk reduction practices. The main barriers to practicing risk reduction behaviour were lack of knowledge and the opinion that mosquito control is mainly the responsibility of the government and not the community.Conclusions The perception and practices of the community towards the prevention and control of malaria and dengue were unsatisfactory. This must be tackled by proper health education and behavior change communication.nbsp