Mass media exposure and Lassa fever knowledge, attitudes and practices in rural Nigeria

Abstract

Lassa fever is a serious infectious disease that has eluded total eradication in Nigeria. The disease affects about 21% of the country’s over 200 million population and currently has no preventive vaccines; hence, health stakeholders have continuously used the mass media as independent and complementary intervention tools to educate the public and create appropriate awareness on the best preventive protocol for the disease. This study examined the influence of public exposure to mass media sensitisation messages on Lassa fever-related knowledge, attitudes and practices among residents of eight rural communities in South-South Nigeria. It used a survey questionnaire to collect data from 384 respondents selected through multistage sampling. After controlling for confounding variables, the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that increased exposure to mass media messages on Lassa fever prevention was significantly associated with higher knowledge ( = .609) and positive attitudes towards the prevention of the outbreak of the disease ( = .600). However, exposure to mass media sensitisation messages on the disease had no significant influence on public health practices related to Lassa fever. Thus, the study called on health communication practitioners and policy makers to design Lassa fever media messages in languages prevalently spoken in the rural communities, and package such messages in a manner that gives due consideration to the individual and cultural disposition of the target audience.