Knowledge, Attitude, and Medicine Taking Behavior of Lymphatic Filariasis Patients in Two Villages in West Kotawaringin Regency

Abstract

ABSTRACTKotawaringin Barat Regency had carried out the lymphatic filariasis mass drug administration (LF MDA) and was declared to have passed the 3rd Transmission Assessment Survey (TAS) in 2016. One of the success factors of the 3rdTAS is the compliance or adherence to taking the preventive drugs. The purpose of this article was to analyze the relationship between knowledge and attitude of adherence to taking filariasis prevention drugs in two villages in West Kotawaringin Regency. The study was conducted in 2017 using an observational design with a cross-sectional approach. The samples used were 273 people ≥ 15 years. The instrument used was a questionnaire of knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to LF MDA. Respondent characteristics and knowledge description were analyzed descriptively. Then chi square test was carried out to determine the relationship between sex, age, education, knowledge, and attitudes towards drug-taking behavior. The results of the study found that the percentage of respondents in West Kotawaringin Regency who had good knowledge was 58.2%, the number of respondents with good attitudes was 66.7%, and 89.4% of them behaved obediently in taking preventivedrugs filariasis. Sex (p= 0.794), age (p= 0.372), education (p= 0.263), knowledge (p = 0.536), and attitude (p = 0.765) did not have significant relevance with the adherence behavior to taking filariasis prevention drugs. The conclusion of the study is that there are other factors other than sex, age, education, knowledge, and attitude that can affect the behavior of adherence to taking filariasis prevention drugs in two villages in West Kotawaringin Regency.Keywords:Attitude; Behavior; Knowledge; LF MDA