A Cross-sectional Study to Assess the Knowledge Regarding Prevention of Rabies among Adults in an Urban Poor Locality of Bengaluru

Background: Rabies being a 100% fatal disease, is also 100% preventable if timely postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is taken.The knowledge of adult decision-makers of the family becomes pivotal to understanding their health-seeking behavior so that appropriate actions can be planned to decrease the incidence of human rabies.Objectives: To assess the knowledge about rabies prevention and to determine the factors influencing their knowledge.Materials and methods: A community-based; cross-sectional study was conducted among 86 adults in an urban poor locality of Bengaluru.A House-to-house survey was done and the knowledge of the adult responsible respondents regarding transmission and prevention of rabies was collected using a predesigned, pretested questionnaire in the local language.Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.Results were expressed using descriptive and inferential statistics.A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:The study included 86 adults with their mean age being 34.16 ± 12.12 years.The majority of them were males (67.4%) and most of the study subjects were literate (88.3%).The knowledge regarding transmission of the disease, animals involved, immediate measures to be taken and PEP was low.The factors influencing the knowledge of the study subjects were found to be significantly associated with their literacy status.Conclusion: Knowledge regarding prophylaxis against rabies is inadequate among adults in the urban poor locality.There is a need for regular, responsive, social, and behavior change communication/programs to improve their knowledge on prevention of the disease and increase demand/utilization of essential health services.