The Impact of Leptospirosis Health Education Module (LHEM) on Changes of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) among Army Personnel in Northeastern Malaysia

Community-based interventions in prevention and control of leptospirosis, have been uniformly unsuccessful. Individual counseling and health education play an important role in the prevention and control of the disease. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of intervention on the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) score on leptospirosis among the army personnel after receiving a health education given. A validated questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, attitude and practice at pre- and post-intervention. A total of 188 army personnel from the two camps involved in this study with 94 respondents in control and intervention groups respectively. Leptospirosis Health Education Module (LHEM) was given to the intervention group. There was significant improvement in knowledge score before and after intervention done (mean difference = 24.25, 95% CI: 21.93, 26.56; p < 0.001) in the intervention camp. However, for the control camp, there was no significant improvement in knowledge score before and after intervention (mean difference = 4.02, 95% CI: 1.55, 6.50; p = 0.200). For the intervention effect, the subjects in the control group had a significantly lower knowledge score between as compared to the subjects in the intervention group (mean difference = −14.13, 95% CI: −15.82, −12.45; p < 0.001). While for the attitude score, there was significant improvement in attitude score before and after intervention in the intervention camp (mean difference = 3.82, 95% CI: 2.47, 5.17; p < 0.001). However, for the control camp, there was no significant improvement in attitude score before and after intervention (mean difference = 0.42, 95% CI: −0.72, 1.55; p > 0.05). For the intervention effect, the subjects in intervention group had significantly higher mean attitude score as compared to the subjects in control group (mean difference = −2.12, 95% CI: −2.99, −1.24; p < 0.001). While for practice score, there was a significant improvement in score before and after intervention done (mean difference = 3.44, 95% CI: 1.80, 5.07; p < 0.001) in the intervention camp. However, for the control camp, there was no significant improvement in practice score before and after intervention (mean difference = 0.76, 95% CI: −0.47, 1.98; p > 0.05). For the intervention effect regardless of time, the subjects in intervention group had significantly higher mean practice score as compared to the subjects in control group (mean difference = 4.16, 95% CI: 2.80, 5.52; p < 0.001). The leptospirosis health education module was found to cause improvement in KAP score in the intervention group.