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  1. Nozmi N, Samsudin S, Sukeri S, Shafei MN, Wan Mohd WMZ, Idris Z, et al.
    PMID: 29642390 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15040693
    Little is known on the knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices (KAP) of leptospirosis worldwide. This study embarked on assessing the KAP of leptospirosis among rural communities in Malaysia. A total of 444 participants (223 male; 221 female) aged between 18 and 81 years old were surveyed by using a self-administered questionnaire. A majority of participants had poor knowledge level (57.0%), unacceptable attitudes (90.3%) and unacceptable preventive practices (69.1%) on leptospirosis, and only 29.7% knew "rat-urine disease" as leptospirosis. Only 34.2% of the participants knew the bacteria could enter via wound lesions. Ethnicity and income were strongly associated with knowledge level and preventive practices, respectively (p-values < 0.05). As for attitudes, ethnicity, income and education type were significantly associated (p-values < 0.05). Only 36.5% of the participants were willing to see a doctor and did not mind if their house or surrounding area is dirty (59.7%). Surprisingly, only 32.9% had used rubber boots during floods. By logistic regression analysis, ethnicity was the only significant predictor for both knowledge level (an odds ratio (AOR) = 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.222-0.680) and preventive practices (AOR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.204-2.734). Ethnicity (AOR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.239-0.665), income (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.041-2.385) and education type (AOR = 3.69, 95% CI = 1.237-10.986) were strong predictors for attitudes. Among the KAP variables, attitude (AOR = 4.357, 95% CI = 2.613-7.264) was the only predictor for the preventive practices by logistic regression analysis. The KAP elements on leptospirosis are still lacking and poor health seeking behavior and attitudes are of our utmost concern. Thus, effective strategies should be planned to impart knowledge, and develop proactive approaches and good preventive modules on leptospirosis to this leptospirosis-prone community.
  2. Zahiruddin WM, Arifin WN, Mohd-Nazri S, Sukeri S, Zawaha I, Bakar RA, et al.
    BMC Public Health, 2018 03 07;18(1):331.
    PMID: 29514645 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5234-y
    BACKGROUND: In Malaysia, leptospirosis is considered an endemic disease, with sporadic outbreaks following rainy or flood seasons. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a new knowledge, attitude, belief and practice (KABP) questionnaire on leptospirosis for use in urban and rural populations in Malaysia.

    METHODS: The questionnaire comprised development and validation stages. The development phase encompassed a literature review, expert panel review, focus-group testing, and evaluation. The validation phase consisted of exploratory and confirmatory parts to verify the psychometric properties of the questionnaire. A total of 214 and 759 participants were recruited from two Malaysian states, Kelantan and Selangor respectively, for the validation phase. The participants comprised urban and rural communities with a high reported incidence of leptospirosis. The knowledge section of the validation phase utilized item response theory (IRT) analysis. The attitude and belief sections utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

    RESULTS: The development phase resulted in a questionnaire that included four main sections: knowledge, attitude, belief, and practice. In the exploratory phase, as shown by the IRT analysis of knowledge about leptospirosis, the difficulty and discrimination values of the items were acceptable, with the exception of two items. Based on the EFA, the psychometric properties of the attitude, belief, and practice sections were poor. Thus, these sections were revised, and no further factor analysis of the practice section was conducted. In the confirmatory stage, the difficulty and discrimination values of the items in the knowledge section remained within the acceptable range. The CFA of the attitude section resulted in a good-fitting two-factor model. The CFA of the belief section retained low number of items, although the analysis resulted in a good fit in the final three-factor model.

    CONCLUSIONS: Based on the IRT analysis and factor analytic evidence, the knowledge and attitude sections of the KABP questionnaire on leptospirosis were psychometrically valid. However, the psychometric properties of the belief section were unsatisfactory, despite being revised after the initial validation study. Further development of this section is warranted in future studies.

  3. Abdullah NM, Mohammad WMZW, Shafei MN, Sukeri S, Idris Z, Arifin WN, et al.
    BMC Public Health, 2019 May 22;19(1):628.
    PMID: 31117995 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-6981-0
    BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is still endemic in Malaysia and has been prevalent in Selangor where cases have been underreported. Primarily, this was due to lack of awareness in the urban community in this region. This study determined the knowledge, attitude and preventive practice (KAP) of leptospirosis, and identified the significant predictors influencing KAP among urban community in Hulu Langat, Selangor.

    METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from 2015 to 2017 using validated questionnaire. Sampling methods included multistage cluster sampling, followed by simple random sampling to obtain 315 respondents. Descriptive analysis was performed to determine the KAP while χ2 and the subsequent logistic regression analysis were carried out to identify associations and predictors between variables.

    RESULTS: Respondents were mainly Malaysian Bumiputra with a mean (Standard Deviation (SD)) age of 32.5 (13.0) years. Of 315 respondents, 80.3% (n = 253) had poor knowledge, 87.0% (n = 274) had good attitude, and 81.3% (n = 256) showed unacceptable practice towards leptospirosis and its prevention. Regression analysis identified age as the sole predictor influencing good knowledge (AOR 2.388; 95% CI = 1.298, 4.396; p = 0.005). Education level (AOR 2.197; 95% CI = 1.109, 4.352; p = 0.024) was also noted as the significant predictor influencing the overall practice.

    CONCLUSIONS: The urban community in Selangor showed a positive attitude in waste management despite having little knowledge regarding the disease itself. The study also discovered inadequacy in preventive practice, hence marking the importance of the proper integration of knowledge and attitude into forming an acceptable practice to reduce transmission of Leptospira among urban population in Malaysia.

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