RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
TITLE OF THE STUDY
A Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Study on Chikungunya Epidemic in Chittar Grama Panchayath.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Communicable diseases always hit the society severely. Each outbreak of epidemics results in loss of human life, huge financial burden for the treatment and hospital maintenance and the loss in the man hours in production of goods and services. The Central and State Governments have to spent unlimited amount of money for the curative and remedial efforts when a communicable disease out breaks.
During the period of epidemics, number of unscientific beliefs and myths spread among the community and which some times affect the epidemic control measures. These type of unscientific beliefs influence the people because they have not scientific knowledge over the diseases. The poor knowledge level causes in the framing of negative attitude and with which people adapt wrong practices.
This study is to assess the knowledge level of people about Chikungunya, their attitude towards it and their practices related to the promotive, preventive and curative aspects of Chikungunya.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
Ø To study the knowledge, attitude and practice of people in the Chikungunya affected areas regarding the epidemic and its management.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Ø To study the socio-economic profile of the respondents
Ø To study the knowledge of respondents about Chikungunya epidemic
Ø To Study the attitude of respondents about the prevention and treatment
Ø To study the practices of respondents on Chikungunya in respect of prevention and curation.
Ø To study the significance of the relationship between education and knowledge and education and attitude.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The people living in Kerala are very conscious about the personal hygiene. They are known for their bathing two times per day, washing cloths and keeping their immediate premises of their living atmosphere. But, the repeated outbreak of epidemics like Chikungunya, Dengue, Japanese encephalitis etc. show the loop holes in the argument of personal and environmental hygiene, because these communicable diseases are rooted to the same.
The knowledge level of people about the epidemics plays important role in the preventive mechanisms and in the promotion of a healthy living standards. And the curative aspects also influenced by the knowledge level. The increase in the knowledge level will influence in the framing of attitudes and which reflects in the preventive, promotive and remedial efforts.
The present educational system has only limited provisions for providing promotive health orientation. The findings of the McKinsey situation analysis study commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that there was a paucity of public health specialists in the country is hardly a revelation. And the suggested solution to that problem expanding public health education is not a spectacular new idea. For over 60 years half a dozen different committees and reports have devoted pages upon pages to the 'urgent' need for public health education for doctors and for establishing institutions offering training in public health. The Bhore committee talked of evolving a 'social physician', and the Mudaliar committee made a whole range impressive recommendations on diplomas and degrees of every sub area in public health that were largely un-implementable because of the inherent infrastructure and financial requirements.
But the government has to spent large amount of money to conscientious people against the epidemics when it hits the society and cause massacre of hundreds. And there is no cost-benefit evaluative system to to assess the effectiveness of the conscientious programmes. During the last epidemic outbreak period also different departments of the state and central government has spent hundreds of thousands of money for the awareness and remedial programmes, but no report published about the outcome of these programmes.
The community level study will help to understand the limitations in the knowledge level of people and shows the areas which need to give more focus in the awareness creation programmes. KAP model study is very effective to realise the situation of the community in the knowledge, attitude and practice areas.
UNIVERSE OF STUDY
The universe of the study is all the families at the Chittar Grama Panchayath in the .
Pathanamthitta district.
SAMPLING PROCEDURE
The technique adopted for sampling is cluster sampling. Convenient sampling was used for data collection. The size of sample is 47.
TOOL OF DATA COLLECTION
The researcher used Self made questionnaire for collecting data from the respondents. The questionnaire includes socio-economic profile, questions to assess the knowledge level, attitude, and practices related to Chikungunya, and the other information like their expenses for treatment and losses.
Pre-test
The researcher did pre-test among seven respondents from a different community. It was done to check the effectiveness of the questionnaire for the required information. After the test the researcher made adequate changes in the questionnaire.
DATA ANALYSIS
The analysis of date was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The statistical measures like mean, median, mode, frequency, etc. were used to analyse the collected data. Interpretations are given based on the previous studies and the review of literature.
THEORETICAL DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS
Attitude : An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of object as not as they are but they conceived to be.
Chikungunya : Chkungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alpha virus that is spread by mosquito bites.
Epidemic: Spreading rapidly and extensively by infection and affecting many individual in an area or a population at a same time.
Knowledge : (i) Expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.
Practice: A habitual behaviour or performance of knowledge.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Attitude: An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward the Chikungunya epidemic and nutral state of readiness to react to the epidemic as not as it is but as it is conceived to be.
Chikungunya: Chkungunya is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alpha virus that is spread by mosquito bites.
Epidemic: The Chkungunya fever spread in the target area of the study.
Knowledge: The total information gained by an individual about Chkungunya epidemic, in its promotive, preventive and curative aspects.
Practice: The activities taken by an individual related to the promotive, preventive and curative aspects of Chkungunya.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Ø As an academic activity, the scope and range of study is very limited. And the time limit also has affected the effectiveness of the study.
Ø The questionnaire is self made one and it may not be attain the high research quality. It may reflect in the data.
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