Knowledge, perceptions, and practices on drowning prevention among fishers in Kyamuswa Sub County, Kalangala district

Abstract

Drowning remains one of the neglected public health concerns globally with sub-Saharan African region accounting for about 90% of the burden. The vulnerability varies across the population with highest being among the fishing communities. Prevention of drowning greatly relies on the knowledge, perception, and practices of the vulnerable communities concerning drowning prevention, yet this is less investigated among the fishing communities in an island district of Kalangala in the Lake Victoria, Uganda. This study was set to assess the knowledge, perceptions, and practices on drowning prevention among fishers in Kyamuswa Sub County, Kalangala District. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by collecting quantitative data from 307 randomly selected fishers. The data was collected using pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire and the collected data was transferred to Microsoft excel where it was cleaned and coded. Then the cleaned data was exported to SPSS version 28 where descriptive statistics were run. The results were presented as frequencies and their respective proportions. he majority of the respondents were aged 20-39 years old, 62.2% (191/307), married, 54.7% (168/307), attained primary level of education, 66.4% (204/307), and belonged to catholic religious faith, 33.2% (99/307). Television was the major source of information about drowning prevention, 64.5% (198/307). The majority of the respondents knew that being in a vertical position in water while unable to move horizontally was a sign of drowning, 43%(132/307), use of personal protective floatation devices as one of the methods to prevent drowning, 86.3% (265/307), the use of lifejacket as a water safety measure, 89.6% (275/307), and public awareness campaigns as a drowning prevention measure, 49.5% (152/307). The majority of the respondents lack lifejackets, 69.1% (212/307), alternative floatation devices, 89.9% (276/307), do not adhere to boating regulation, 73.0% (224/307), and only a few of them have ever attended drowning prevention awareness campaigns, 10.3% (33/307). This study revealed that the respondents had good knowledge about signs, causes, and ways of preventing drowning. However, there was poor practices regarding drowning prevention such as poor adherence to drowning guidelines, lack of lifejackets and alternative floatation device. Effective enforcement of drowning prevention practices among the fishers is recommended for safe and sustainable fishing.