Assessment of leptospirosis knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices (KAP) among food handlers in food premise, Perak Tengah district: article

The purpose of this study was to access the leptospirosis knowledge, attitude, and preventive practice (KAP) among 100 food handlers who work in food premises in the Perak Tengah district. A self-administrated bilingual validated questionnaire composed of English and Malay language was given to the selected food handlers. The result showed the average score for food handlers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices were 86%, 83%, and 88%, respectively. The data then analysed using Spearman Rank Order correlation to determine the correlation of food handlers’ leptospirosis KAP. This study results in weak positive correlation of knowledge-attitude (r = 0.329, p = 0.001), attitude-practice (r = 0.121, p = 0.231) and knowledge-attitude (r = 0.102, p = 0.311). A statistically significant correlation between knowledge and attitude (p<0.05) of leptospirosis results in knowledge would influence the attitude. One-way ANOVA compared the KAP score between food handlers working from different grades of food premise. Food handlers from grade A food premise scored the highest leptospirosis KAP (88.7±3.8) compared to grade B (82.9±5.1), grade C (76.7±7.4), and no grade food premise (86.9±4.1). This result proved that food handlers working in grade A food premises have better leptospirosis KAP levels than others. Despite the finding of this study, correct information regarding leptospirosis needs to promote and improved.