KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND PRACTICES IN RABIES PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT

Rabies continues to pose a significant public health challenge in the Philippines, particularly in regions like San Fernando, Pampanga. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding rabies prevention and management among residents of San Fernando. This study utilized a quantitative descriptive correlational research design. This study employed a stratified random sampling technique to ensure a representative sample of the population. The participants, aged 18 to 59 years, were systematically selected to gather a total of 400 respondents from the city of San Fernando located in the province of Pampanga. The results revealed significant gaps in knowledge and varying attitudes and practices towards rabies prevention. The results indicate a low level of knowledge on rabies, high level of attitude on rabies, and fair to high level of practices in addition, the association of these variables with that of their sociodemographic factors and KAP level was measured by Kruskal Wallis Test and Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test to explore the correlations between sociodemographic factors and KAP levels. The study's results underscored the need for targeted educational campaigns and community-based interventions to enhance rabies prevention efforts. These findings provide crucial insights for public health policymakers and practitioners aiming to reduce rabies incidence in San Fernando and similar settings.