1College of Nursing, Mother Teresa Post Graduate Research Institute and Health Sciences, Indira Nagar, Gorimedu, Puducherry-605009, India
2College of Nursing, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
*Email: ganesh_prabhu_vk@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 29 December, 2011.
Outbreak of chikungunya causes a major social and economic impact on the sick people.
The aim of the present study is to assess the knowledge and attitude about Chikungunya among residents of Puducherry.
A cross-sectional survey was undertaken recruiting 100 samples by convenience sampling method.
Results revealed that overall knowledge regarding chikungunya was below average (6.96 ± 3.10) and some of the aspects like causes, risk factors, treatment, prevention and prognosis were poorly known. More than two third of the subjects (66%) had wrong attitude about chikungunya. Study participants aged between 18 to 25 years, females and participants with graduate or more qualification had significantly more knowledge regarding chikungunya (p<0.05). None of the demographic variables was associated with attitude of subjects.
There is an urgent need to enhance knowledge of general public about chikungunya and educational interventions to enhance the knowledge and attitude of people regarding chikungunya to follow appropriate practices and preventive and management measures.
Attitude, Chikungunya, Knowledge
