Community knowledge,attitude and practice towards cutaneous leishmaniasis endemic area Ochello,Gamo Gofa Zone,South Ethiopia

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of the community related to cutaneous leishmaniasis(CL) in an endemic area Ochello, Gamo Gofa Zone, South Ethiopia.Methods: We conducted community based cross-sectional survey among residents in Ochello from November to December 2014. The study area was purposely selected based on previous reports on endemicity of CL. Using simple random sampling technique, a total of 392 household participants were selected in the study area Ochello. Structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Regarding the responses given to knowledge, attitude and practice, a score of 1 was given for each right response and 0 for unsure responses. Data were double entered and analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20 statistical software.Descriptive statistics that include frequency and percentage were used to analyze the results.Results: In total, 392 individuals were participated in our study where 225(57.4%) of the participants were males and 167(42.6%) were females. Of all the total participants, 265(67.6%) had heard of the disease, and 127(32.4%) responded that they did not know CL.Based on the scoring results, 265(67.6%) participants were knowledgeable about CL. Out of 265 participants who heard about CL, most of them [215(54.8%)] had the attitude that CL was a problem in their area and had no positive attitude towards the treatment of CL.Approximately, 215(54.8%) replied that CL was preventable. Majority of the respondents did not sleep outdoors and did not practice sleeping near vegetation with or without bed net.Conclusions: The current finding indicated that the inhabitants of Ochello developed good awareness and encouraging attitude regarding CL. However, their prevention and control practice was very low. Hence, the result of this study calls for organized community awareness creation through various means.