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

Background Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) studies have included mainly community-based samples, yet, investigation on in-patients with Dengue fever (DF) through hospital-based surveillance has not been done. Methods 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. Results Paediatric patients with DF had significantly higher knowledge (P < 0.05) and practice (P < 0.05) domains mean scores than adult patients with DF and significantly lower practice mean scores than youth controls (P < 0.05). Being senior high school, days in the hospital and rash determined increased KAP among paediatric patients with DF while no significant determinants were found among adult 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 (P < 0.01) of paediatric patients with DF, however, similar with adult patients with DF, these domains did not correlate with their practices against DF. Conclusion 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.