Risk factors for bat contact and consumption behaviors in Thailand; a quantitative study.

BACKGROUND: Bats serve as an important reservoir for emerging infectious diseases. Bat contact and consumption, which persists in Asia, poses risks for the transmission of bat-borne infections. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional survey for risk factors associated with bat contact and consumption behaviors was conducted in ten provinces of Thailand from May 2016 to December 2017. A standardized questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews was used to collect information from 626 villagers who lived in or nearby areas of high bat density. The questionnaire contained 23 independent variables related to sociodemographic, knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perceptions. RESULTS: The respondents (n = 626) were 285 females and 341 males, mean age of respondents was 47.58 years-old and lived in rural setting. Our results showed that 36.42% of respondents (n1 = 228) in 10 provinces reported bat contact during the past 6 months. Furthermore, 15.34% of respondents (n2 = 96) in 9 out of 10 provinces reported of having consumed bat meat in the past 6 months. Risk factors for bat contact included sex (male) (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.09-2.28), educational attainment (lower than secondary school) (OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.02-2.18), and the consideration of bats as being economically beneficial to the community (OR = 3.18, 95% CI 2.03-4.97), while agriculture-related occupation (OR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.37-0.79), knowledge that it is safe to eat bats (OR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.37-0.93), practice of allowing children to play with bats (OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.44-0.96), and attitude of feeling safe in areas where bats live (OR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.86) were statistically significant protective factors against bat contact. Risk factors for bat consumption included sex (male) (OR = 2.48, 95% CI 1.49-4.11) and educational attainment (lower than secondary school) (OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.27-3.85), while knowledge of whether bats are safe to eat (OR = 0.04, 95% CI 0.01-0.25), knowledge of whether there are laws pertaining to hunting bats for consumption (OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.18-0.71), and the practice of allowing children to play with bats (OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.31-0.81) were statistically significant protective factors against bat consumption. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a better understanding of the sociodemographic factors, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices that might influence bat contact and bat consumption behaviors. Information on risk factors can be used for the development of appropriate education and communication interventions to promote proper knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding bats and bat-borne zoonotic diseases in Thailand and other areas in the Southeast Asia region with similar environmental and cultural characteristics.

Effects of an intervention to reduce insecticide exposure on insecticide-related knowledge and attitude: a quasi-experimental study in Shogun orange farmers in Krabi Province, Thailand.

An intervention to reduce insecticide exposure in Shogun orange farmers was implemented in Krabi Province, Thailand. Intervention effects on insecticide-related knowledge and attitude were evaluated in a quasi-experimental study in two farms about 20 kilometers (km) apart. The intervention was conducted at one farm; the other served as control. The study included 42 and 50 farmers at the intervention and control farms, respectively. The intervention included several components, including didactic instruction, practical demonstrations, use of a fluorescent tracer, and continuing guidance on insecticide use via a small, specially trained group within the overall intervention group. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first such intervention in Thailand. Knowledge and attitude were measured at baseline (pre-intervention), and at 2 and 5 months after the intervention (follow-up 1 and follow-up 2, respectively). Intervention effects were assessed with linear mixed models, specified to enable testing of effects at each follow-up time. The intervention was associated with substantial and statistically significant improvements in both knowledge score and attitude score (P < 0.001 for each score at each follow-up time). Intervention-related improvements in knowledge score and attitude score were equivalent to about 27% and 14% of baseline mean knowledge and attitude scores, respectively. Intervention-related benefits were similar at both follow-up times. Findings were similar before and after adjustment for covariates. These findings increase confidence that well-designed interventions can reduce farmers' insecticide exposure in Thailand and elsewhere. In future research, it would be desirable to address long-term intervention effects on farmers' health and quality of life.