The effectiveness of using line application network in leprosy case detection among Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in Health Region 7

Authors

  • Nutcha Prompunja Raj Pracha Samasai Institute, Department of Disease Control
  • Wisut Saelim Raj Pracha Samasai Institute, Department of Disease Control
  • Toungborn Auitpol Raj Pracha Samasai Institute, Department of Disease Control
  • Supattra Simmatan Office of Disease Prevention and Control, Region 7 Konkaen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/dcj.2021.55

Keywords:

Leprosy, lineApplication, village health volunteers

Abstract

Delay in case detection contributes to disabilities in new leprosy cases. The root causes of delay are health service system of which leprosy diagnose specialists are not available and lack of leprosy early sign awareness among community members. The village health volunteers (VHVs), key persons in community’s active disease surveillance, together with technology may support in early detect new leprosy cases. So far, there is no empirical evidence in using technology to help VHVs in detecting leprosy cases. This quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of leprosy case detection in community using Line application by VHVs in Health Region 7. Experimental area was Papau sub-district, Banpai district, Khon Kaen province and control area was Pegyai sub-district of the same province. The sample of experimental area consisted of 156 VHVs and 6,383 community members while that of control area consisted of 144 VHVs, 6,637 community members. The study was conducted between January and September 2019. Percentage, mean, S.D, pair t-test, Independent t-test, and Z-test were used to analyze the data. It was found that knowledge, attitude towards leprosy and case detection performance of VHV-experimental group were significantly higher than those of VHV-control group with mean scores 2.35, 14.34 and 5.35 respectively (p <0.001). The ratio and sensitivity of suspected cases detection by VHV-experimental group significantly higher than that of suspected cases detection by VHV-control group (54.73% versus 1.32%). Therefore, using line application network in new leprosy case detection among VHVs is a model that would be applied in VHVs’ capacity building of other areas with epidemiological indicators.

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References

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Published

2021-09-28

How to Cite

1.
Prompunja N, Saelim W, Auitpol T, Simmatan S. The effectiveness of using line application network in leprosy case detection among Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in Health Region 7. Dis Control J [Internet]. 2021 Sep. 28 [cited 2024 Dec. 19];47(3):621-3. Available from: https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/DCJ/article/view/247259

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 3 (2021): July-September

Section

Results of Operations

License

Articles published in the Disease Control Journal are considered as academic work, research or analysis of the personal opinion of the authors, not the opinion of the Thailand Department of Disease Control or editorial team. The authors must be responsible for their articles.