Citation, abstract and comment from me below.
CITATION: Community knowledge, attitudes and practices related to Taenia solium taeniosis and cysticercosis in Zambia.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [electronic resource]. 17(8):e0011375, 2023 Aug.
Zulu G et al.
https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0011375
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Several studies on Taenia solium taeniosis / cysticercosis (TSTC) have been conducted in Zambia. However, none has assessed community knowledge, attitudes and practices related to TSTC and epilepsy.
METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted between November and December 2022. The design consisted of a questionnaire-based survey conducted in each of the 25 purposely selected villages in Chiparamba Rural Health Centre (RHC) catchment area in Chipata district of the Eastern Province.
RESULTS: A total of 588 participants comprising 259 (44%) males and 329 (56%) females with median age of 42 years (range 17 to 92 years) were interviewed. Awareness of the signs and symptoms of taeniosis and human cysticercosis (HCC), including transmission and prevention measures was very low. Whilst the majority had heard about epilepsy, they were not able to link HCC to epilepsy. Most participants were aware of cysticerci in pigs (PCC) including its predilection sites but were not aware of mode of transmission and prevention measures...
CONCLUSION: The study shows overall poor knowledge, attitudes and practices related to TSTC among the community of Chiparamba RHC in Chipata district of the Eastern Province of Zambia. This poses a serious challenge for control and elimination of T. solium infections and thus efforts to improve knowledge, attitudes and practices should be made using a One Health approach for the control and elimination of TSTC. Educational programs about TSTC transmission, signs and symptoms, prevention, management and control need to be scaled up in the study area and Zambia as a whole.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
COMMENT (NPW): The authors note that 'Only 40% (141) of those who had heard about tapeworm infection were knowledgeable about the signs and symptoms of taeniosis'. This sounds quite a good percentage to me, although it is not clear how 'knowledgeable' is defined. As a general comment, there are many research studies that measure knowledge about different diseases, but there is little if any standardisation of levels of knowledge, so authors' use of words such as 'only' and 'poor' is hard to interpret. Such studies are generally not associated with an intervention to measure knowledge before and after, so it is not clear what are the best interventions to improve knowledge (and practice).
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
