Rabies-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice Among Nomads in South Khorasan, Iran: A Descriptive-Correlational Study

Background and Objectives: Rabies is among the oldest known zoonoses. It has a high mortality rate, particularly in developing countries and in rural areas. Rabies prevention and management necessitates adequate information about public rabies-related knowledge and behavior. The present study was done to assess rabies-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice among nomads in South Khorasan province, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2015 on 318 nomads. Sampling was done through multi-stage sampling. A researcher-made 36-item instrument was used for data collection. The data were entered in the SPSS software (v. 16) and analyzed through the Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation analysis, at a significance level of less than 0.05. Results: A large number of participants had limited knowledge (139 cases; 43.4%), negative attitudes (139 cases; 42.9%), and moderate- level practice (183 cases; 57.5%) regarding rabies. There were significant positive correlations between knowledge and attitudes (r = 0.58; P 0.001), knowledge and practice (r = 0.58; P 0.001), and attitudes and practice (r = 0.56; P 0.001). Moreover, rabies-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice had a significant relationship with age and educational status (P 0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that most nomads in South Khorasan had poor rabies-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice. Therefore, educational strategies are needed to improve their rabies-related knowledge, attitude, and practice, in order to prevent rabies.