Research Article
Impact of School Based Health Education on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Grade Three Primary School Children in Zimbabwe
N. Midzi1, S. Mtapuri -Zinyowera2, MJ. Mutsaka3, V. Ruhanya1, M. Magwenzi1, N. Chin’ombe1, G. Nyandoro5*, A. Marume6, N. Kumar 4 and T. Mduluza71Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
2National Microbiolgy Reference Laboratory, Zimbabwe
3National Institute of Health Research, Zimbabwe
4Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
5Department of Community Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
6Department of Pharmacology, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
7Department of Biochemistry, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
- *Corresponding Author:
- George Nyandoro
Department of Medical Microbiology/Community Medicine
College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe
P.O. Box A178, Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel: 263-4-791631 Ext. 2280
E-mail: georgenyandoro@yahoo.com
Received date: May 07, 2014; Accepted date: June 27, 2014; Published date: July 03, 2014
Citation: Midzi N, Zinyowera SM, Mutsaka MJ, Ruhanya V, Magwenzi M, et al. (2014) Impact of School Based Health Education on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Grade Three Primary School Children in Zimbabwe. J Community Med Health Educ 4:295. doi:10.4172/2161-0711.1000295
Copyright: © 2014 Midzi N, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objective: Grade three children (9-10 years) are recommended as the optimal study population for assessing community prevalence of schistosomiasis and soil transmitted helminthiasis (STHs). However their knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of these children in relation to schistosomiasis, and malaria is not known.
Methods: Using multistage sampling, grade 3 children (n=172) were randomly selected from four primary schools in Shamva and Mutare districts in Zimbabwe. And were interviewed using a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire. The urine filtration technique was used to determine S. haematobium infection status. Infection with S. mansoni and STHs was determined using a combination of results from the Kato Katz and formol ether concentration techniques. P. falciparum was diagnosed by examination of Giemsa stained thick blood smears.
Results: The baseline knowledge proportions about the disease causes among the children were schistosomiasis (32.0%), STHs (19.2%) and malaria (4.1%) which increased after intervention to 67.4%, 71.5%, and 55.8%, respectively. Knowledge of school children about prevention measures of the same diseases improved from schistosomiasis (22.1%), STHs (19.2%), and malaria (5.8%), respectively at baseline to schistosomiasis (69.2%), STHs (66.3%) and malaria (59.3%), respectively. Prevalence of S. haematobium, S. mansoni, hookworms and P. falciparum declined from 61.2%, 17.7%, 7.3% and 21.2% at baseline to 15.9%, 3.4%, 4.1%, and 6.8% respectively. Mean infection intensities for S. haematobium and S. mansoni decreased by 94.8% and 96.6% respectively.
Conclusion: School based health education improves knowledge of children about disease transmission and control measures. However lack of enabling amenities such as soap, safe and clean water, ITNs in schools and the involvement of the community are yawning gaps that deserve urgent filling.
