Knowledge, Attitude, Practices and Associated Factors Towards Trachoma Among People Living in Arba Minch Zuria District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Figures & data

Figure 1 Schematic presentation of sampling procedure of the study participants. Note: HH means households.

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Study Subjects, (N=796)

Variables	Category	Frequency	Percentage
Age	19 years old or less	9	1.1
	20–29 years old	152	19.1
	30–39 years old	305	38.3
	40–49 years old	194	24.4
	50 years old and above	136	17.1
Gender	Male	462	58
	Female	334	42
Religion	Orthodox	333	41.8
	Protestant	459	57.7
	Others^a	4	0.5
Ethnicity	Gamo	751	94.3
	Wolayta	27	3.4
	Others^b	18	2.3
Educational status	No formal education	345	43.3
	Grade 1–8	321	40.3
	9 grades and above	130	16.3
Marital status	Married	666	83.7
	Divorced	5	0.6
	Single	85	10.7
	Widowed	40	5
Occupation	Farmer	445	55.9
	Merchant	104	13
	Student	63	7.9
	Housewife	159	20
	Day laborer	10	1.3
	Others^c	15	1.9
Family size	4 or less	308	38.7
	Above 4	488	61.3
Wealth index	Lowest percentile	155	19.5
	Second percentile	161	20.2
	Middle percentile	164	20.6
	Fourth percentile	160	20.1
	Highest percentile	156	19.6

Notes: ^aCatholic and Adventist; ^bAmhara and Goffa; ^cNGO, Government.

Table 2 Clinical, Personal and Environmental Characteristics of the Study Participants, 2019

Variables	Category	Frequency	Percentage
Experiencing eyelashes epilation	Yes	58	7.3
	No	738	92.7
Presence of discharge from the eyes	Yes	56	7
	No	740	93
Frequency of washing face	Once per day	329	41.3
	Twice per day	289	36.3
	Three times per day	178	22.4
Use soaps while washing face	Yes	687	86.3
	No	109	13.7
Habit of sharing clothes	Yes	130	16.3
	No	666	83.7
Environmental cleanliness	Feces present on the ground	63	7.9
	Flies present in the environment	490	61.6
	Clean environment	243	30.5
Latrine conditions	No latrine	42	5.3
	Pit latrine	749	94.1
	VIP latrine	5	0.6
Walking distance from home to health facility	One hour or less	337	42.3
	Above one hour	459	57.7
Walking distance from home to clean water source	30 minutes or below	711	89.3
	Above 30 minutes	85	10.7

Table 3 Knowledge of Community Toward Trachoma and Trichiasis in Arba Minch Zuria District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2019

Variables	Category	Frequency	Percentage %
Heard about trachoma	Yes	796	100
Cause of trachoma	Bacteria	263	33
	Dust	400	50.3
	Curse	72	9.1
	Virus	55	6.9
	Others^a	6	0.8
Signs and symptoms	Tearing of the eye	337	42.3
	Redness of the eye	375	47.1
	Scratching of the eyelashes	146	18.3
	Photophobia	156	19.6
	Itching	284	35.7
Transmission of trachoma	Contact with nasal or eye discharges	167	21
	Sharing clothes or fomites	160	20.1
	Unhygienic environment	592	74.4
Prevention	Use medicine	452	56.8
	Daily hand wash with water and soap	448	56.3
	Avoid contact with nasal or eye discharges	159	20
	Avoid sharing clothes	69	8.7
Consequences	Vision loss	476	60
	Scarring of the eye	142	17.8
Ever heard about trichiasis	Yes	430	54
	No	366	46
Ever heard about TT surgery	Yes	360	45.2
	No	436	54.8
Knowledge status of patient	Adequate	185	23.2
	Inadequate	611	76.8

Notes: ^aContaminated water, do not know.

Figure 2 Sources of knowledge of study subjects toward trachoma in Arba Minch Zuria district, Gamo zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2019. Note: ^aLocal meetings, churches/mosques.

Table 4 Attitude of Study Subjects Toward Trachoma and Trichiasis in Arba Minch Zuria District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2019

Variables	Likert Scale
	Strongly Agree (1)	Agree (2)	Neutral (3)	Disagree (4)	Strongly Disagree (5)
Trachoma can be transmitted through genes	148 (18.6%)	82 (10.3%)	204 (25.6%)	316 (39.7%)	46 (5.8%)
Trichiasis patients may lose vision if not operated	100 (12.6%)	305 (38.3%)	240 (30.1%)	144 (18.1%)	7 (0.9%)
People with trichiasis can perform work like anyone without trichiasis	69 (8.7%)	149 (18.7%)	157 (19.7%)	398 (50%)	23 (2.9%)
I am willing to undergo surgery if I have trichiasis	87 (10.9%)	354 (44.5%)	166 (20.8%)	167 (21%)	22 (2.8%)
I will not prefer epilation of inwarded eye lashes rather than surgery	155 (19.5%)	384 (48.2%)	122 (15.3%)	120 (15.1%)	15 (1.9%)
I believe that trichiasis can be prevented	184 (23.1)	420 (52.8%)	142 (17.8%)	40 (5%)	10 (1.3%)
Trachoma can be transmitted from one person to another	152 (19.1%)	311 (39.1%)	233 (29.3%)	78 (9.8%)	22 (2.8%)
I fear that trichiasis surgery by itself causes blindness	93 (11.7%)	185 (23.2%)	221 (27.8%)	240 (30.2%)	57 (7.2%)

Figure 3 Attitude status of the study participants towards trachoma and trichiasis surgery in Arba Minch Zuria district, Gamo zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2019. Note: ^aLocal meetings, churches/mosques.

Table 5 Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis for Factors Associated with Knowledge of Study Participants Toward Trachoma and Trichiasis in Arba Minch Zuria District, Gamo Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia, 2019

Variables	Category	Knowledge Status		AOR, 95%CI	P-value
		Adequate	Inadequate
Gender	Male	121	341	1.174 (0.73–1.88)	0.506
	Female	64	270	Reference
Education	No formal education	60	285	0.365 (0.212–0.626)	0.001**
	Grade 1–8 (primary school)	75	246	0.58 (0.35–0.962)	0.035*
	Grade 9 and above	50	80	Reference
Marital status	Married	159	507	2.056 (0.697–6.064)	0.191
	Divorced	0	5	0.0 (0.0)	0.99
	Single	22	63	2.444 (0.660–9.054)	0.181
	Widowed	4	36	Reference
Family size	4 or less	79	229	1.225 (0.845–1.776)	0.284
	Above 4	106	382	Reference
Occupation	Farmer	113	332	0.063 (0.008–0.52)	0.01*
	Merchant	16	88	0.022 (0.003–0.194)	0.001**
	Student	16	47	0.026 (0.003–0.225)	0.001**
	Housewife	26	133	0.03 (0.004–0.256)	0.001**
	Day laborer	0	10	0.0 (0.0)	0.999
	Others^a	14	1	Reference
Distance from home to health facility	One hour or below	70	267	0.915 (0.623–1.344)	0.650
	Above one hour	115	344	Reference
Walking distance from home to clean water source	30 minutes or below	176	535	2.531 (1.183–5.4150)	0.017*
	Above 30 minutes	9	76	Reference
Wealth index	Lowest	30	125	0.49 (0.27–0.878)	0.016*
	Second	29	132	0.38 (0.21–0.69)	0.001**
	Middle	27	137	0.36 (0.199–0.658)	0.001**
	Fourth	51	109	1.0 (0.59–1.69)	0.99
	Highest	48	108	Reference

Notes: ^aNGO and governmentt workers; *statistically significant association; **strongly significantly associated.

Table 6 Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis of Factors Associated with Attitude of the Study Participants Toward Trachoma and Trichiasis Surgery in Arba Minch Zuria District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2019

Variables	Category	Attitude Status		AOR, 95%CI	P-value
		Favorable	Unfavorable
Environmental cleanliness	Clean	187	56	2.224, (1.518–3.257)	0.001**
	Unclean	365	188	Reference
Sex	Male	338	124	1.848 (1.332–2.565)	0.001**
	Female	214	120	Reference
Age group in years	20 or below	20	7	2.746 (1.052–7.167)	0.039*
	21–30	143	44	3.019 (1.782–5.114)	0.001**
	31–40	216	36	2.341 (1.468–3.731)	0.001**
	41–50	112	55	1.609 (0.972–2.663)	0.064
	51 and above	61	52	Reference
Distance from home to health facility (walking distance in hour)	One hour or below	250	87	1.845 (1.308–2.600)	0.001**
	Above one hour	302	157	Reference

Notes: *Indicates significantly associated; **indicates strongly associated with outcome variable.