Knowledge of local snakes, first-aid and prevention of snakebites among community health workers and community members in rural Malawi: A cross-sectional study

Objective: Snakebite envenoming remains a public health threat in many tropical countries. While community knowledge of local snakes and snakebite first-aid and prevention are needed to reduce snakebite incidence and improve the outcomes for snakebite patients, it is poor in many communities. We assessed community health workers and community members regarding their knowledge on local snakes, snakebite first-aid and prevention in Neno district, Malawi.

Methods: In November 2022, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among 312 community health workers and 379 community members in the Neno District of Malawi to assess their knowledge of snake identification, snakebite first-aid, and prevention. Different questions were asked in these sections and summarised as linear scores ranging from 0% to 100%. Scores of 0%-49%, 50%-70%, and >70% were considered inadequate, fairly adequate, and adequate, respectively. Along with data collected during knowledge assessments, the socio-demographic characteristics of participants were collected. To assess knowledge differences between community health workers and community members, Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used, and linear regression was calculated to investigate possible predictors of knowledge.

Results: Overall, 66.6% of participants were females with a median age of 39 (IQR = 30-48) years. Of the 89% (n = 615) who agreed to view snake pictures, only 1.3% had adequate snake identification knowledge. Less than 5% (n = 33) had adequate knowledge of first aid measures, and 14.3% (n = 99) had adequate knowledge of prevention practices. Overall, less than 1% (n = 3) had adequate knowledge across the three assessment sections, with no significant difference between community health workers (n = 1, 0.3%) and community members (n = 2, 0.5%) (p > 0.949).

Conclusion: Both community health workers and community members had inadequate knowledge regarding local snake species, first aid for snakebites and prevention measures. The effect of awareness campaigns and other education initiatives could be explored to help improve these gaps.