The Effects of Changing Self-Care Behavior Program on Knowledge, Attitude and Self-care Behaviors of Opisthorchiasis Patients San Pa Tong District, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of changing self-care behavioral program among 42 Opisthorchiasis patients who had low to moderate levels of knowledge, attitudes, and self-care behaviors. A 6-month self-care behavior modification program was provided to the participants in the study. The data was analyzed using paired sample t-test to compare knowledge, attitudes, and self-care behaviors scores before and after the behavior modification program.

The proportion of males to females was equal at 50% with mean age of 62 ± 6.25 years. The majority of them were married (81%), received the highest level of education at the elementary level (83.30%), working in agricultural occupations (31%) and an average monthly income of 3,033.33 baht. Based on data of living in the community for the past three years, it was found that 95.20 percent of people lived in the community. 85.70% of the public water sources are used for catching fish. 76.20% of the people eat fish in community water sources. The average scores of knowledge, attitudes, and self-care behaviors before receiving the program were 6.74 ±1.41, 2.23 ±0.35, and 2.56 ±0.22, respectively. After the program, the average scores were 8.10 ±1.10, 2.49 ±0.29, and 2.76 ±0.18, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in knowledge, attitude, and self-care behaviors scores between before and after receiving the changing self-care behavioral program (p-value= 0.001, 0.009, 0.001) respectively. The changing self-care behavioral program was found to be effective that improves knowledge, attitudes, and self-care behaviors scores among Opisthorchiasis patients. This program can be generalized to other patients with Opisthorchiasis in other areas.