Dengue Prevention KAP Among Households of an Urban Field-Practice Ward: A Cross-Sectional Study

Dengue has become a recurring post-monsoon problem in Indian cities, and control depends heavily on what households do: covering water containers, emptying coolers and flower-pot trays weekly, disposing of discarded tyres and coconut shells, and using personal protection against day-biting Aedes mosquitoes. The National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC) relies on community participation, yet households often know that dengue spreads through mosquitoes without knowing where Aedes breeds.

This ICMR Short-Term Studentship (STS)-style study measures knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding dengue prevention among households in the urban field-practice area of a medical college's Department of Community Medicine. It is a community-based cross-sectional survey of about 250 households selected by systematic random sampling, using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire administered face to face in the local language, together with a simple observation checklist of water-holding containers at each house.

Knowledge and practice scores are classified as good or poor, and associations with education, socioeconomic status (modified Kuppuswamy scale), type of house and previous dengue in the family are tested with chi-square and binary logistic regression in Jamovi. By comparing what people say with the containers the student actually sees, the study exposes the knowledge–practice gap that ward-level IEC campaigns need to target. The whole project fits the two-month STS window, under a guide from Community Medicine, with Institutional Ethics Committee approval and a written report.

Abstract

A community-based cross-sectional study will be conducted among 250 households in the urban field-practice area of a medical college during the post-monsoon season to assess knowledge, attitude and practices regarding dengue prevention. One adult respondent per household will be interviewed with a pre-tested questionnaire, and water-holding containers will be inspected with a checklist. Associations of KAP scores with sociodemographic factors will be analysed by chi-square test and logistic regression.

Introduction

Dengue is caused by four serotypes of dengue virus transmitted mainly by Aedes aegypti, which breeds in clean, stagnant water in and around homes. There is no specific antiviral treatment, and vaccine availability in India is limited, so prevention rests on source reduction and personal protection. Urban wards with intermittent water supply, where families store water in drums and overhead tanks, are especially vulnerable.

Review and gap

Indian KAP studies generally report reasonably high awareness that mosquitoes transmit dengue but much lower knowledge of daytime biting, clean-water breeding and weekly container emptying. Most studies rely only on self-reported practice. Few combine the interview with direct observation of containers, which is needed to measure what households actually do.

Proposed work

• Sample-size calculation and systematic random sampling of households from the field-practice area's family register.
• Interview with a validated, pre-tested questionnaire and observation checklist.
• Scoring of knowledge, attitude and practice; comparison of reported and observed practice.
• Health education leaflet given to every household after the interview.

Feasibility

• Setting: the urban health training centre already maintains family folders and has community health workers who can introduce the student.
• Time: 250 interviews at about 12 per day fit into four weeks of field work within the two-month STS.
• Cost: printing and travel only; free software (OpenEpi, Jamovi, Epi Info).
• Ethics: IEC approval, written informed consent and confidentiality are built into the protocol.

Every post-monsoon season the urban field-practice area of the college reports dengue cases, and entomological surveys by the municipal health staff repeatedly find Aedes larvae in household containers. Health education is delivered, but there is no local data showing which specific knowledge gaps and practices drive breeding — whether families do not know that Aedes breeds in clean water, do not believe dengue is serious, or know what to do but do not do it.

Without this information, IEC activities remain generic. This study aims to measure household knowledge, attitude and practice on dengue prevention, to compare reported practice with observed containers, and to identify sociodemographic factors associated with poor knowledge and poor practice, so that the urban health training centre and ward health staff can design targeted, evidence-based interventions.

In scope

• Households in the urban field-practice area of the Department of Community Medicine; one adult respondent aged ≥ 18 years per household.
• Knowledge, attitude and practice domains, plus a container checklist limited to visible containers inside and around the house.
• Descriptive and analytic statistics; a health-education leaflet for participants.

Out of scope

• Larval identification or entomological indices such as the Breteau index (needs trained entomology staff).
• Serological testing of residents.
• Evaluating the effect of an educational intervention (future scope).

Study design: community-based cross-sectional study.

Setting and duration: urban field-practice area of the Department of Community Medicine; two months (week 1–2 approvals and pilot, weeks 3–6 data collection, weeks 7–8 analysis and report).

Sample size: taking the proportion of households with good dengue-prevention practice as 50% (p = 0.5, giving the maximum sample when no reliable local estimate exists), absolute precision d = 7% and 95% confidence: n = Z²pq/d² = (1.96² × 0.5 × 0.5)/0.07² ≈ 196. Adding 10% for non-response gives ≈ 216; the study aims for 250 households to allow subgroup analysis. The calculation is verified in OpenEpi.

Sampling: systematic random sampling from the family register of the field-practice area; the sampling interval k = total households / 250, with a random start. Locked or non-consenting houses are replaced by the next house.

Inclusion criteria: households resident for at least six months; respondent aged ≥ 18 years who is the head of family or the person managing household water storage; written informed consent.

Exclusion criteria: houses locked on three visits; respondents unable to communicate due to illness.

Instruments: semi-structured questionnaire with sections on sociodemographics (modified Kuppuswamy socioeconomic scale with updated income cut-offs), knowledge (15 items), attitude (8 items on a three-point scale) and practice (10 items); content validity reviewed by three faculty members; translated, back-translated and pre-tested on 20 households outside the sample area. Observation checklist of containers (drums, overhead tanks, coolers, flower-pot trays, discarded items) noting covered or uncovered and water present.

Scoring: one mark per correct knowledge or desirable practice item; scores ≥ 60% of maximum classified as good.

Ethics: Institutional Ethics Committee approval before the STS proposal is submitted; ICMR National Ethical Guidelines (2017); written informed consent (thumb impression with witness for non-literate respondents); only a household serial number is recorded — no names, phone numbers or identity documents.

Statistical analysis: data entered in Epi Info/Google Forms, analysed in Jamovi. Descriptive statistics as frequency and percentage; chi-square test for associations; binary logistic regression for independent predictors of poor practice (adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI); Spearman correlation between knowledge and practice scores; p < 0.05.