Performance Evaluation of Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever Prevention and Control in Mueang Chachoengsao District, Chachoengsao Province

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) Prevention and Control Program in Mueang Chachoengsao district, Chachoengsao province, by applying the Stake’s Evaluation Model (Stake, 1980), and using the evaluative research approach. The study was based on two groups of participants: Group 1, 41 officials responsible for DHF prevention and control in the district and Group 2, 206 community leaders who worked and lived in the district, selected using the multistage sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire that applied the Stake assessment model, the disease prevention motivation theory, and the social support theory in the form of documents and Google forms. Data were collected using two set of questionnaires that had been checked for content validity and tested for reliability of the instrument. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the first questionnaire were 0.85 and 0.88, while the coefficients of the second questionnaire were 0.87, 0.86, 0.99, and 0.80. Data were analyzed for numbers, percentages, and estimates based on the 95% confidence interval of percentages. The results showed that:

1. regarding the performance in DHF prevention and control of responsible officials, most of them had problems and obstacles in improving the environment for destroying the breeding grounds of Aedes mosquitoes (80.5%) and in surveying the Aedes larval indices (73.2%).

2. As for community leaders’ performance, their involvement if the program was at a high level.

3. Based on the 2023 standard criteria for DHF prevention and control, the district had 156 DHF cases, representing an illness rate of 95.42 per 100,000 population, which was higher than the threshold set by the Ministry of Public Health, and had a death rate of 0, which was lower than the criterion set by the ministry;  and the mosquito larval indices (HI, BI, CI) were in the low and medium risk.

Based on the research findings, support should be increased in terms of resources and adequate personnel, training should be provided to enhance knowledge and skills in surveying and destroying Aedes mosquito breeding sites, and cooperation between officials and communities should be promoted to enhance the effectiveness of dengue prevention and control operations.