Journal Article

Assessing knowledge about lymphatic filariasis and the implementation of mass drug administration amongst drug deliverers in three districts/cities of Indonesia

Bradley, Mark, Mu’asyaroh, Anifatun, Damayanti, Rita, Krentel, Alison, Titaley, Christiana R., Lynam, Tim, Soeharno, Nugroho

2018

Overview

Background This research assesses knowledge amongst drug deliverers about the implementation of mass drug administration (MDA) for lymphatic filariasis (LF) in Agam District (West Sumatera Province), the City of Depok (West Java Province) and the City of Batam (Kepulauan Riau Province), Indonesia. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2015 at these three sites. Respondents were identified using purposive sampling (i.e. cadre, health worker or community representatives). A total of 318 questionnaires were accepted for analysis. Three outcomes were assessed: knowledge about LF; knowledge about MDA implementation; and was informed about MDA coverage. Logistic regression analyses were employed to examine factors associated with these three outcomes. Results Less than half of respondents were charactersised as having a high level of LF knowledge and less than half a high level of knowledge about MDA. The odds of having a high level of knowledge of LF was significantly lower in Batam City than Agam District, yet higher amongst health workers than cadres. Deliverers living in urban areas reported more feedback on MDA outcomes than in the rural district. Health workers received more feedback than cadres ( P < 0.001). Deliverers perceived the difference between coverage (drug receipt) and compliance (drug ingestion) in the community. Conclusions There are variations in knowledge about LF and MDA as well as feedback across drug deliverers in MDA across geographical areas. Adaptation of the MDA guidelines, supportive supervision, increasing the availability of supporting materials and directly-observed therapy might be beneficial to improve coverage and compliance in all areas.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adaptation / Adult / Bancroftian filariasis / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Care and treatment / Cities / Communities / Compliance / Cross-Sectional Studies / Diagnosis / Drug delivery systems / Drug therapy / Drugs / Drugs deliverer / Elephantiasis, Filarial - drug therapy / Elephantiasis, Filarial - parasitology / Entomology / Feedback / Female / Filariasis / Filaricides - administration & dosage / health care workers / Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Humans / Indonesia / Infectious Diseases / Ingestion / Knowledge / Lymphatic filariasis / Male / Mass Drug Administration / Mass drug administration (MDA) / Maternal & child health / Medical personnel / Methods / Middle Aged / Parasitic diseases / Parasitology / Public health / Public health administration / Regression analysis / Rural areas / Rural Population / Studies / Surveying / Surveys and Questionnaires / therapeutics / Tropical diseases / Tropical Medicine / Urban areas / Vector-borne diseases / Vectors (Biology) / Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science / Virology / Workers