Affiliations 

  • 1 Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Kubang Kerian, Kelantan
MyJurnal

Abstract

Introduction: Dengue is an endemic disease that affects community members of all ages, including young chil- dren. With proper exposure, children will be aware of their surroundings and can keep themselves protected. Thus, the current study design introduces an activity-based programme to suit children, with the aim of testing the effectiveness of this programme by analysing knowledge and practice scores of children before and after the programme. Method: A pilot study to determine the effectiveness of an activity-based programme was conducted among fifty KEMAS kindergarten children from June to July 2019. The one-day based programme consisting of theatre performance and games were conducted at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Data from participants involved was collected a week before and a week after the activity-based programme using a validated questionnaire. Results from the data were statistically analysed using the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive test was used to generate socio-demographic data while the Wilcoxon Sign-Rank test was used to compare knowledge and attitude scores before and after the programme. Results: A total of 46 participants have successfully attended the activity-based programme and completed pre and post questionnaires. There were significant differences in both knowledge and practice scores among participants following participation in the activity-based programme, where, p < 0.001. Conclusion: This preliminary study concludes that an activity-based programme on dengue has improved participants’ knowledge and practice towards dengue, thus can be considered as a validated programme for early exposure of prevention knowledge and measures against dengue among kindergarten children.