This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features!
Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

NIH NLM Logo
Log in
Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Dec 1;9(12):e0004237.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004237. eCollection 2015 Dec.

Health Seeking Behaviour and Treatment Intentions of Dengue and Fever: A Household Survey of Children and Adults in Venezuela

Affiliations

Health Seeking Behaviour and Treatment Intentions of Dengue and Fever: A Household Survey of Children and Adults in Venezuela

Jelte Elsinga et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Dengue in Venezuela is a major public health problem with an increasing incidence of severe cases. Early diagnosis and timely treatment influences the outcome of dengue illness, as delay in care-seeking is significantly associated with complications leading to severe dengue. We aimed to understand patterns of health seeking behaviour (HSB) in individuals exposed to high dengue incidence in order to improve early attendance to health centres.

Methods: Between September 2013 and February 2014 a cross-sectional household survey was performed in Maracay, Venezuela. Intended HSB of adults and children's parents/guardians was assessed with respect to fever or suspected dengue. Data was collected through structured questionnaires from 105 individuals.

Results: Most individuals felt at risk of dengue and believed it could be a deadly disease. In the case of suspected dengue, the majority (60%) would choose to first seek medical help versus first treating at home, in contrast to 11% in the case of fever. Amongst those who decided to visit a doctor, a suspected dengue infection would prompt them to search medical help earlier than if having only fever (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis modelling showed that the independent factors associated with the intention to firstly visit a doctor versus treating at home in the case of dengue were feeling at risk (OR = 3.29; p = 0.042) and being an adult (as opposed to caring for a child as a parent/guardian; OR = 3.33, p = 0.021), while having had a previous dengue infection (OR = 0.29; p = 0.031) and living in the neighbourhood Caña de Azúcar (OR = 0.28, p = 0.038) were negatively associated with seeking medical care as their first action.

Conclusion: Knowledge of HSB related to dengue is scarce in the Americas, our study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of HSB in this region. Improving early dengue disease recognition and awareness may enhance prompt attendance to medical care in affected populations and thereby reduce mortality and severity of dengue. Especially for those with a previous dengue infection, efforts have to be made to promote prompt health centre attendance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Intended health seeking behaviour pathways in the case of fever and suspected dengue.
x¯ = mean day when visiting a medical doctor; R = range of day chosen to visit a doctor (min–max). The upper-left and upper-right panel show the first three steps intended to take in the case of fever by parents/guardians referring to their child and adults, respectively. The lower-left and lower-right panel show the first three steps intended to take in the case of suspected dengue by parents/guardians referring to their child and adults, respectively. Percentages correspond with their contribution to the child sample (fever: n = 51 & dengue: n = 47) or the adult sample (fever: n = 49 & dengue: n = 47).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Home treatment choices for fever and dengue.
The percentages correspond to their contribution to those who mentioned to treat at home when answering the adult questionnaire (fever: n = 45; dengue: n = 12) or the child questionnaire (fever: n = 45; dengue: n = 26).The categories of treatment combinations in fever and dengue are equal in meaning. However, reporting to treat at home with ‘paracetamol’ (P) and ‘other treatment’ (OT) varies between the categories of home treatment of fever and dengue. P and OT are placed within brackets if not all subjects within the category used additionally P or OT. OT may refer to the following: rubbing the body with alcohol/cream, body sponging, aspirin, other medication or rest.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Day when seeking medical help in case of dengue and fever.
Section A: children n = 51; adults n = 48. Section B: children n = 51; adults n = 51.

References

    1. World Health Organization. Dengue: Guidelines for Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Control. WHO/HTM/NTD/DEN/2009.1 (World Health Organization, 2009). - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization [Internet]. Dengue and severe dengue [updated 2015 Feb; cited 2015 Mar 25]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/
    1. Bhatt S, Gething PW, Brady OJ, Messina JP, Farlow AW, Moyes CL, et al. The global distribution and burden of dengue. Nature. 2013; 496(7446):504–507. 10.1038/nature12060 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. San Martín JL, Brathwaite O, Zambrano B, Solórzano JO, Bouckenooghe A, Dayan GH, et al. The epidemiology of dengue in the Americas over the last three decades: a worrisome reality. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2010;82(1):128–135. 10.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-0346 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tapia-Conyer R, Betancourt-Cravioto M, Méndez-Galván J. Dengue: an escalating public health problem in Latin America. Paediatr Int Child Health. 2012;32(s1):14–17. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Full text links
Public Library of Science full text link Public Library of Science Free PMC article
Cite

AltStyle によって変換されたページ (->オリジナル) /