Publications

A B S T R A C T

Introduction: Dog bite is a daily event of medical importance.

Majority of the victims of dog bite may not be adopting the correct

management due to lack of awareness, false beliefs and incorrect

practices.

Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice

regarding dog bites and its management in victims of dog bites

seeking care at an urban health center in Bangalore Urban, Karnataka.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the victims of

dog bites of any category seeking health care at an urban health center

in Karnataka. Face validated interview schedule was administered to

the 151 subjects selected by convenience sampling. The data was

analyzed using SPSS Version 21.

Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 39.7 ± 14.8 years.

The mean knowledge score was found to be 9.9 ± 2.6 and the median

score was 10 (IQR = 8,12). The majority of the subjects (85.4%) were

aware of a disease caused by dog bites whereas only some (35.8%)

of them could name the disease. The mean attitude scores of the

subjects were 5.1 ± 1.7. About 37.7% of them felt that vaccination

could lead to adverse effects in the population. The key practice of

washing the bitten area with soap and water in the current dog bite

was seen among 15.2% of subjects. A significant association was seen

between this practice with the educational score on applying the

Fisher exact test with a p value of 0.024.

Conclusion: The knowledge regarding dog bites was good among the

subjects and the attitude and practices were poor.