Pilot intervention to assess the efficacy of a complex-intervention package to prevent dengue in Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: Dengue is a leading public health problem in Sri Lanka. Development and evaluation of community-based intervention on behavioural changes are identified as key functional areas to prevent dengue outbreaks. The research study aimed to assess the complex-intervention package on changing household behaviour to prevent dengue. Method: A community based pre-post pilot-intervention was conducted to assess the efficiency of a COMBI-based complex-intervention among 121 adults, aged between 18 to 70 years in households in highly-endemic area in the Kurunegala district. Improvement of proper waste management practices according to the 3R concept (Reduce, Reuse and Re-cycling) was the finalized specific behavioural objectives of the COMBI plan. The outcomes were compared with paired t-test and McNemar test. Results: The response-rate of the pilot-study was 97.5% (n=118). The result revealed that the adequate post interventional knowledge on dengue prevention of the intervention group, positive atitude towards dengue prevention, adequate health-seeking behaviour and the overall community capacity was significantly improved by 37.3%, 39.9%, 31.3% and 16.3% in the post-interventional assessment than the pre-intervention assessment respectively. Notably, adequate dengue prevention behaviours were improved by 51.7% in the post-intervention assessment than the preintervention assessment. Conclusion: A COMBI planning process based interventional approach to change the behaviour for sustainable dengue control is feasible, implementable and efficient. it was able to achieve the significant improvement of the desired outcome of interest including knowledge, atitudes, practices, health seeking behaviours, community capacity and dengue prevention behavior following the pilot intervention.