School-based Information and Education Campaign (IEC) Program and Knowledge Gain of Student Participants on Rabies in a Private School in Davao City, Philippines

Abstract

Rabies is a viral disease transmitted to humans through the bite of a rabid animal, commonly from dogs. In Davao City, Philippines, many of the dog bite victims are children below 15 yr old. To educate the city’s vulnerable age group on rabies, the City Veterinarian’s Office (CVO) conducted a school-based information and education campaign (IEC). In this paper, we assess the knowledge gain on rabies of the student participants aging 6–19 yr old after participating in the CVO’s school-based IEC program by comparing their pre-test, post-test, and retention test scores. We also identified socio-demographic drivers that are related to the student participant’s rabies knowledge scores. Observations coming from 367 student participants were analyzed. Our results show that 294 student participants scored higher in the post-test than in the pre-test, but 213 student participants scored lower in the retention test than in the post-test. Nevertheless, 264 student participants still had a higher retention test score than the pre-test score. Furthermore, the student participant’s age and whether he or she received a human rabies vaccination, the head of the household’s gender, educational attainment, and monthly income, and the CVO’s IEC lecture are significantly associated with the knowledge score to rabies. Even though CVO’s school-based IEC lecture is positively associated with rabies knowledge, this paper recommends that rabies education be integrated into classroom instructions to ensure knowledge retention among student participants. Furthermore, developing age-specific IEC media for students and IEC reinforcement through text messaging are recommended as well.