ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Mosquito-Borne Diseases in an Urban Sector of Southwestern Colombia
Provisionally accepted
- University of Santiago de Cali, Cali, Colombia
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Background: Mosquito-borne diseases (MBD) continue to represent a critical public health challenge, particularly in tropical regions where environmental and socioeconomic factors facilitate transmission. Methods and materials: This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to MBD among 172 residents of an urban area in Santander de Quilichao, Colombia. A structured survey, validated and adapted from the Pan American Health Organization, was performed for data collection. Results: The mean knowledge score was 57%, indicating moderate awareness of MBD. While 63.4% of participants reported adequate preventive practices, the majority (94.8%) demonstrated indifferent attitudes toward MBD prevention. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed a statistically significant association between marital status and knowledge levels (p < 0.05), with married participants exhibiting higher knowledge. Socioeconomic analysis showed that 41.3% of participants earned the legal minimum wage, and 68.6% of households included at least one woman of childbearing age. Despite moderate knowledge and preventive practices, the prevalence of indifferent attitudes may hinder effective MBD prevention. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the need for targeted community engagement and educational interventions. Incorporating KAP assessments into public health strategies can enhance the design
Keywords: Arboviruses, health and biological education, Mosquito Control, knowledge, Attitudes and practices, mosquito-borne diseases
Received: 09 Aug 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bedoya-Rodríguez, Guevara-Fletcher and Pelegrin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Francisco Javier Bedoya-Rodríguez, francisco.bedoya00@usc.edu.co
Jonathan S. Pelegrin, jonathan.pelegrin00@usc.edu.co
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