Knowledge, attitude and practices on dengue fever among paediatric and adult in-patients in Metro Manila, Philippines

Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) studies have included mainly community-based samples, yet, investigation on in-patients with Dengue through hospital-based surveillance has not been done. This study aimed to assess and compare the KAP, identify its determinants and protective factors among 250 clinically or serologically confirmed paediatric (n = 233) and adult patients (n = 17) with DF and 250 youth (n = 233) and adult (n = 17) controls. Paediatric patients with DF had significantly higher knowledge and practice mean scores than adult patients with DF and lower practice mean scores than youth controls. Being senior high school, days in the hospital and rash determined increased KAP among paediatric patients with DF. Mosquito-eating fish, screen windows and Dengue vaccine were protective factors against DF, though, further studies should confirm these results. Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and attitude of paediatric patients with DF, however, similar with adult patients with DF, these domains did not correlate with their practices against DF. This suggests that the translation of knowledge and attitude to better practices against DF was poor. Thus, it is necessary to structure health programs on models that facilitate behavioural change among children and adults.