Knowledge, attitudes and practices of communities towards neurocysticercosis in the districts of Amuru and Gulu, Northern Uganda

dc.contributor.authorAlarakol, S. P.
dc.contributor.authorBagaya, B. S.
dc.contributor.authorYagos, Walter Onen
dc.contributor.authorOdongo Aginya, E. I.
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-18T07:01:58Z
dc.date.available2022-02-18T07:01:58Z
dc.date.issued6/4/2020
dc.description.abstractNeurocysticercosis (NCC) is the hematogenous inversion of brain by the larval stage of pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. The aim of the study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practices among communities in two districts of Northern Uganda. A community based cross sectional study was conducted between February to March 2019 in two Sub-Counties of Amuru and Gulu districts. Multistage sampling and lottery methods were used to select the study sites and the respondents, respectively. Data was collected from 296 participants. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to detect the independent factors associated with dependent variables. Variables with P< 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Fifty six percent (56%) of the participant had moderate knowledge about NCC. Respondents with satisfactory level of attitude and practices were 52.3 and 51%, respectively. Sixty percent (60%) of the respondents eat pork. Majority (94.3%) of the respondents always wash their hands after visiting toilets. Sixty seven percent (67%) of the respondents agreed that epileptic patients should marry but seventy (70%) reported that they should not go to school. Majority (80%) of the respondents reported that NCC patients should be taken to hospital for medical care. Multivariate logistic regression model revealed sex (P=0.017, OR=1.27(95%CI: 1.04-1.54), level of education (P=0.006, OR= 4.451(95%CI: 1.49-12.20) and occupation (P=0.03, OR=3.843(95%CI: 1.13-12.71) were more significantly associated with knowledge on NCC. Sex (P = 0.013, OR= 1.88 (95%CI: 1.14- 3.10), level of education (P= 0.031, OR= 5.43(95%CI: 1.17-25.20) was significantly associated with positive attitudes towards patients with NCC. Male exhibited better practices towards patients with NCC (P<0.05). The findings indicate that there is a limited knowledge on NCC among the rural communities in the district of Amuru and Gulu, Northern Uganda. In addition, the findings show that the communities practice risky behaviors that promote development of NCC in the region. The intervention of health authorities in this area is required for the prevention and/or control NCC in the region.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipDELTAS Africa Initiative grant # DEL-15-011 to THRiVE-2. The DELTAS Africa Initiative is an independent funding scheme of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)’s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Wellcome Trust grant # 107742/Z/15/Z and the UK government. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AAS, NEPAD Agency, Welcome Trust or the UK government. BSB receives salary support from DELTAS Africa grant # 107743 to MUII-plus.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2141-2510
dc.identifier.otherDOI: 10.5897/JPVB2020.0386
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.gu.ac.ug/xmlui/handle/20.500.14270/106
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherJournal of Parasitology and Vector Biologyen_US
dc.subjectCommunities,en_US
dc.subjectknowledge,en_US
dc.subjectattitude,en_US
dc.subjectpractices,en_US
dc.subjectneuorcysticercosis,en_US
dc.subjectNorthern Uganda.en_US
dc.titleKnowledge, attitudes and practices of communities towards neurocysticercosis in the districts of Amuru and Gulu, Northern Ugandaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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