Knowledge, attitude and practice on leptospirosis disease among final year students of selected programmes in Universiti Putra Malaysia

Abu Bakar, Siti Maryam (2017) Knowledge, attitude and practice on leptospirosis disease among final year students of selected programmes in Universiti Putra Malaysia. [Project Paper] (Submitted)

Text lp FPSK4 2017 9 REPAIR.pdf Download (8MB)

Abstract

Introduction: Leptospirosis is an infectious and zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic bacteria called leptospires. The disease can spread directly or indirectly through exposure to urine or feces of infected animals, and also water or soil contaminated with the secretions of infected animals. In Malaysia, the first case was recorded in 1984 in Mulu Cave, Sarawak. Since then, cases of Leptospirosis in Malaysia have increased by 69%, from 1418 cases in 2009 to 7806 cases in 2014 with 92 deaths. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices among students in the final year of the selected program at UPM. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at UPM among final year students of Environmental and Occupational Health (ENVOCH), Nursing and Veterinary Medicine. All final year students from the three programs were involved in this study. A questionnaire was used as a research tool. The analysis used is descriptive analysis, 'Chi-square' test, 'Kruskal-Wallis' test and Mann-Whitney test. Study Results: From the results obtained, the majority of students have a moderate level of knowledge which is ENVOCH (41, 71.9%), Nursing (14, 63.6%) and Veterinary Medicine (46, 76.7%). In addition, most students from ENVOCH, Nursing and Veterinary Medicine have a moderate attitude towards Leptospirosis which is 42 (73.7%), 18 (81.8%) and 40 (66.7%) respectively. The majority of them also showed a moderate level of practice, namely 41 (71.9%), 17 (77.3%) and 44 (73.3%) respectively. There is a significant relationship between race and knowledge, also gender and attitude with (p < 0.05), (p = 0.008) and (p = 0.001) for each relationship. There is also a relationship between attitude and practice (p<0.05). Meanwhile, there is a significant difference in knowledge between ENVOCH students and Veterinary Medicine and Nursing with Veterinary Medicine (p<0.05). Conclusion: Most of the final year students of ENVOCH, Nursing and Veterinary Medicine have a moderate level of knowledge, attitude and practice towards Leptospirosis disease. Therefore, an increase in education and training needs to be done to face and overcome this issue. Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Leptospirosis, Final Year Students, UPM

Item Type:	Project Paper
Faculty:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Science
Depositing User:	Ms Norafizah Radzuan
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2024 03:16
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2024 03:16
URI:	http://psaspb.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2004

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