Peer-reviewed article
Community knowledge, attitudes, and preferences towards vitamin A supplementation in a semi-rural health zone, Kasai Oriental, Democratic Republic of the Congo: a mixed-methods study.
Landry Egbende, Ingunn M S Engebretsen, Josué Lukusa, Branly Mbunga, Paulin B Mutombo et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined what parents and community members in a semi-rural area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo know, think and prefer about vitamin A supplementation for young children. The research found that most caregivers had low knowledge about vitamin A, but held positive attitudes toward supplementation programs. Community health workers were identified as the most important source of information and play a critical role in reaching families with vitamin A services.
Key points
- 95.5% of respondents had low knowledge scores (≤4) about vitamin A supplementation
- Fathers' education level and information from community health workers were significantly associated with higher knowledge scores
- Community members expressed positive attitudes toward vitamin A supplementation
- Both health centre-based and household-based administration of vitamin A were equally preferred by the community
- Strengthening community health workers' competence and interactions with community members is essential for successful vitamin A delivery
Limitations
This study describes community knowledge and attitudes but does not evaluate whether any particular intervention approach actually improves vitamin A coverage or reduces deficiency rates. The findings are specific to one semi-rural health zone and may not generalise to other settings.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency remains a critical public health challenge and affects children under 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the community-level knowledge, preferences, and attitudes towards vitamin A supplementation in a semi-rural Health Zone, Kasaï-Oriental province. METHODS: A sequential mixed-methods approach was applied; qualitative data included in-depth interviews with community leaders and focus-group discussions with parents (n = 79); quantitative data included a multi-stage sampling survey among caregivers of children under age 5 (n = 420). Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis supported by NVivo 14. The primary respondents for the survey were mothers/caregivers of children under 5-years old. A negative binomial regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with vitamin A knowledge scores using Stata 17. RESULTS: The majority (95.5%) of respondents had relatively low knowledge scores (≤4). As reported by mother/caregiver, knowledge was positively associated with the father's level of education and information from community health workers (adjusted incidence rate ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.35 [1.02-1.78] and 1.56 [1.08-2.23], respectively). The community members had a positive attitude regarding vitamin A supplementation. In addition, the administration of vitamin A in health centres and at households were equally denoted as the preferred approaches. CONCLUSION: Community health workers played a key role in informing the community regarding vitamin A supplementation. Strengthening the competence and interactions of community health workers with community members is a key factor for successful vitamin A supplementation delivery.