STATUS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ATTITUDE TOWARDS LEPROSY IN KOLFE KERANIO AND GULLELE SUB CITIES, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA 2015

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: In this thesis, assessing the status of attitude of primary school teachers towards leprosy and its associated factors: knowledge, belief, area of residence and age were important areas of concern to be studied. The fact that Federal Ministry of Health program report and National leprosy mapping report had shown child leprosy as was one of the national concerns, publications on status of attitude were obsolete and health facility based; initiated this thesis work on primary school teachers. This was an important input to the organized community groups involved in implementing leprosy related health programs. Objective: To assess status of primary school teacher’s attitude towards leprosy and its associated factors in Kolfe Keranio and Gullele sub cities, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2015 Methods: Cross sectional quantitative study was conducted using multistage sampling procedures in two sub cities of Addis Ababa. Questionnaire was self administered to a total of (n=634; N=1,568; K=1568/634= 2.49, where K is interval to pick respondents). Data was collected and entered into EPI-INFO version 3.5.3 and exported to SPSS version 16. Data was re-coded and cleaned carefully for completeness. Descriptive (frequency), Binary Logistic regression and Multiple Logistic regressions were executed for analysis. Results: The status of favorable attitude of primary school teachers towards leprosy was 71.9%. The multiple logistic regression analysis had shown association of attitude (outcome) of primary school teachers against the predictors: residential area, age, belief and knowledge. Primary school teachers in Kolfe keranio sub city ([AOR 95% CI] = 1.79 (1.11, 2.89) were 79% more likely to develop favorable attitude towards leprosy compared to those residing in Gullele sub city. Primary school teachers between 18 to 39 years of age ([AOR 95% CI] = 0.47 (0.27, 0.80) were 47% more likely to develop favorable attitude towards leprosy compared to those 40+ years of age. Primary school teachers having fair belief ([AOR 95% CI] = 1.57 (1.06, 2.34), were 57% more likely to develop favorable attitude towards leprosy compared to those having poor belief. Primary school teachers having fair knowledge on leprosy ([AOR 95% CI] = 1.56 (1.04, 2.35), were 56% more likely to develop favorable attitude towards leprosy compared to those having poor knowledge Conclusion and recommendation: Status of attitude of primary school teachers towards leprosy was favorable. Residential area, age, belief and knowledge had shown significant association with favorable attitude. Sustain and enhancing primary school teacher’s attitude through training, seminars, and panel discussions, question and answer competitions; include leprosy information in language courses and life sciences is important action required. Public health planning is needed to influence school community’s attitude towards participating in early detection of child leprosy. The finding of this study needs to be complemented by qualitative and reliability research. Key words: Leprosy, primary school teachers, Attitude, Belief, Knowledge, Residential area