ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES ABOUT RABIES AND RISK FACTORS: THE CASE IN DAWURO ZONE LOMA DISTRICT, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

This study was conducted in Dawuro Zone Loma District, from January 2017 to September 2018 to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) on rabies among the community of Loma District. Cross-sectional study design and simple random sampling procedures were employed to select kebeles for this study. Localities (Kebeles) were selected using lottery method from list of kebeles in each administrative area, followed by selection of households from each kebeles using  systematic random sampling method. The data were collected from 384 households through face to facepretested structured questionnaires. Descriptive statics techniques analyses were used to manage the data.Of the 384 respondents interviewed, 359 (93.5%) of them were males and 25 (6.5%) females and 312 (81.3%) were found to be medium-aged respondents. The majority of the respondents 201 (52.3%) were Orthodox. Almost all of the respondents indicated that they had previously heard about rabies.  From respondents’ point of view, there are different sources of information for rabies, but about 56.8% of respondents were getting information from formal sources (media, newspaper). Among clinical signs stated in questionnaire, about 54.9% respondents knew all clinical signs. Generally, these findings indicated that the Loma district community has good knowledge about rabies. But need for educational outreach in Loma District to raise accurate knowledge on mode of transmission, symptoms and appropriate prevention and treatment measures.