Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaria is a life-threatening, rampant disease and the newly emerged knowlesi malaria brings a new challenge in the management of this vector borne disease. The transmission of knowlesi malaria is closely associated with the long-tail macaque that can be easily found at near forest. Recreationa...

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Main Authors: Rafidah A., Rohani Ahmad, Zurainee M. N., Noraishah M. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pusat Sistematik Serangga, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/1/38014-134236-1-PB.pdf
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author Rafidah A.,
Rohani Ahmad,
Zurainee M. N.,
Noraishah M. S.,
author_facet Rafidah A.,
Rohani Ahmad,
Zurainee M. N.,
Noraishah M. S.,
author_sort Rafidah A.,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Malaria is a life-threatening, rampant disease and the newly emerged knowlesi malaria brings a new challenge in the management of this vector borne disease. The transmission of knowlesi malaria is closely associated with the long-tail macaque that can be easily found at near forest. Recreational park is usually located near or in the forest and therefore can be a potential area for knowlesi malaria transmission due to the nature of the recreational park which is suitable as habitat not only for long-tail macaque and mosquito that transmit the disease but also a place that is frequently visited by human population to enjoy outdoor activities. This study aims to describe the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) amongst visitors of recreational park with regards to malaria and its prevention. A cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitudes and practices was conducted at three recreational parks in Malaysia namely Sungai Kedondong Recreational Park, Selangor; Sungai Tekala Reserved Forest, Selangor and Chemerong Reserved Forest, Terengganu. 460 questionnaires were distributed among parks visitors who are willing to participate in the study on voluntarily basis. Analysis were then performed on questionnaire that are filled completely by participants. Out of 460 questionnaires distributed only 296 questionnaires were filled completely. Therefore, all result presented in this study were based on 68% completed questionnaires. Majority of respondents (80.4%) knew about malaria where as high as 77% of the respondents were found to have good knowledge about malaria signs and symptoms. Around 79.1% of the respondents were aware about mosquito as the vector that transmits malaria. 62.5% of them said that malaria can be prevented by using repellent to avoid mosquito bite and 62.2% of them applied repellent before performing outdoor activities at the parks. Although the results obtained may not represent the actual situation of KAP of park visitors with regards to malaria and its prevention since the number of questionnaires analysed were relatively low, this study nevertheless able to show a pattern of good understanding among park visitors regarding malaria and its prevention. This understanding was significantly influence by participants’ level of education.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:165922021-05-21T04:40:05Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/ Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia Rafidah A., Rohani Ahmad, Zurainee M. N., Noraishah M. S., Malaria is a life-threatening, rampant disease and the newly emerged knowlesi malaria brings a new challenge in the management of this vector borne disease. The transmission of knowlesi malaria is closely associated with the long-tail macaque that can be easily found at near forest. Recreational park is usually located near or in the forest and therefore can be a potential area for knowlesi malaria transmission due to the nature of the recreational park which is suitable as habitat not only for long-tail macaque and mosquito that transmit the disease but also a place that is frequently visited by human population to enjoy outdoor activities. This study aims to describe the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) amongst visitors of recreational park with regards to malaria and its prevention. A cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitudes and practices was conducted at three recreational parks in Malaysia namely Sungai Kedondong Recreational Park, Selangor; Sungai Tekala Reserved Forest, Selangor and Chemerong Reserved Forest, Terengganu. 460 questionnaires were distributed among parks visitors who are willing to participate in the study on voluntarily basis. Analysis were then performed on questionnaire that are filled completely by participants. Out of 460 questionnaires distributed only 296 questionnaires were filled completely. Therefore, all result presented in this study were based on 68% completed questionnaires. Majority of respondents (80.4%) knew about malaria where as high as 77% of the respondents were found to have good knowledge about malaria signs and symptoms. Around 79.1% of the respondents were aware about mosquito as the vector that transmits malaria. 62.5% of them said that malaria can be prevented by using repellent to avoid mosquito bite and 62.2% of them applied repellent before performing outdoor activities at the parks. Although the results obtained may not represent the actual situation of KAP of park visitors with regards to malaria and its prevention since the number of questionnaires analysed were relatively low, this study nevertheless able to show a pattern of good understanding among park visitors regarding malaria and its prevention. This understanding was significantly influence by participants’ level of education. Pusat Sistematik Serangga, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2020 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/1/38014-134236-1-PB.pdf Rafidah A., and Rohani Ahmad, and Zurainee M. N., and Noraishah M. S., (2020) Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia. Serangga, 25 (2). pp. 108-122. ISSN 1394-5130 https://ejournal.ukm.my/serangga/issue/view/1296/showToc
spellingShingle Rafidah A.,
Rohani Ahmad,
Zurainee M. N.,
Noraishah M. S.,
Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia
title Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia
title_full Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia
title_fullStr Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia
title_short Preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in Peninsular Malaysia
title_sort preliminary assessment on malaria-related knowledge, attitudes and practices (kap) amongst visitors at selected recreational parks in peninsular malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16592/1/38014-134236-1-PB.pdf