Urinogenital schistosomiasis knowledge, attitude, practices, and its clinical correlates among communities along water bodies in the Kwahu Afram Plains North District, Ghana

• Main Authors: Samuel Essien-Baidoo, Mainprice Akuoko Essuman, Bernard Adarkwa-Yiadom, Dominic Adarkwa, Anita Akua Owusu, Seth Boakye Amponsah
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic; Kap
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/b583d02299784714a1d7dd349bad1eaa

Background Adequate knowledge and proper practices coupled with knowledge of the burden of disease are necessary for the eradication of Schistosoma infection. This study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) as well as health outcomes related to Schistosoma haematobium infection at Kwahu Afram Plains North District (KAPND). Methods A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was carried out among 140 participants from four local communities in KAPND in August 2021. From these participants, 10ml of urine was collected for determination of the presence of S. haematobium and urine routine examination. In addition, 4ml of blood was collected and used for haematological examination. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis using IBM SPSS were used to describe and represent the data collected. Results The study reports a gap in knowledge about schistosomiasis in the study area with the majority indicating that they have not heard of schistosomiasis (60.7%), do not know the mode of transmission (49.3%), and do not know how the disease could be spread (51.5%). The overall prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis was 52.9%. This was associated with age, occupation, perceived mode of Schistosoma transmission, knowledge of Schistosoma prevention, awareness that schistosomiasis can be treated, frequency of visits to water bodies, and water usage patterns. In multivariate analysis, factors that remained significantly associated with S. haematobium infection were age 21–40 (OR = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.06–0.76), 41–60 (OR = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.01–0.52) and ≥ 60 (OR = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.02–0.87), informal employment (OR = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.01–0.69) and awareness of transmission by drinking water from river body (OR = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.03–0.92). In Schistosoma infection, reduced haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, lymphocytes and eosinophils were observed. White blood cells, neutrophils, and monocytes were significantly elevated in infected states. Urine analysis ...