Understanding the future of dengue in Malaysia: Assessing knowledge, attitude, and homeowner practices in mitigating climate-driven risks.

INTRODUCTION

Dengue fever poses a significant public health threat, particularly in tropical regions like Malaysia. The rising incidence of dengue outbreaks challenges healthcare systems and highlights the urgent need for effective preventive measures. Climate change, with rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns, is expected to worsen the dengue situation in the coming years.

METHODS

. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among adult residents of low-cost housing apartments in an urban poor community in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia involving approximately 16,000 residents. A representative sample of 1,636 residents was calculated using the Krejcie and Morgan formula, and stratified random sampling was used to ensure proportional representation across the various floors of each PPR community apartment block. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire adapted from a validated Malay version. The questionnaire assessed respondents' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to dengue prevention, categorising KAP scores as "Good" (≥80%) or "Poor" (<80%). Descriptive statistics summarized population characteristics and KAP scores, while logistic regression identified predictors of KAP levels, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

In this community, 76.7% of participants exhibited poor knowledge and 83.1% had a negative attitude towards dengue, despite 66.7% demonstrating good preventive practices. The PPR location significantly predicts dengue knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices, with p-values of less than 0.001 for all domains. Marital status also predicts dengue knowledge (p = 0.007) and preventive practices (p = 0.023), while prior infection with dengue is a predictor of preventive practices (p = 0.047).

CONCLUSION

Despite the community's good dengue prevention practices, likely influenced by environmental expectations, there remains a critical need for education to sustain and strengthen these efforts, as climate change continues to worsen in the coming years. It is crucial to help residents grasp the relevance of these practices, so they can apply them more effectively as climate-driven risks intensify. Targeted interventions should de designed differently for each of the four PPR communities as their levels of knowledge, attitude and practices vary significantly, taking into account independent factors like marital status and prior dengue infection, which shape preventive behaviors.