ssessment of Knowledge of Non-Communicable Diseases and Influences on the Lifestyle of Community Members in Afigya-Kwabre South District in Ghana

Abstract

Background: Non-communicable diseases have become the primary health concern for most countries around the world. Efforts put in place to stem the surge of non-communicable diseases are overly curative rather than preventive. If policymakers can adopt more preventive measures, community members should have adequate knowledge of the mechanisms surrounding noncommunicable diseases’ existence and occurrence. Objective: This study seeks to assess the knowledge level of non-communicable diseases and how they shape the modifiable lifestyle of community members in the Afigya-Kwabre South District in Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach involving 504 respondents in five communities. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Excel format was made and data was imported into STATA version 14.0 (Stata Corp LP, College Station, Texas, USA) for statistical analysis. Results were presented in Charts and Tables. Results: The age category 46-50 years was the majority representing 27.0%. Females accounted for 58.4% and the educational completion category ‘Primary’ accounted for 31.7% of the respondents. We found that 77.7% of the respondents know that, NCDs are not transmissible from one person to another. More than a third of the respondent mentioned that unhealthy dietary behaviour, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use are major risk factors forNCDs. We noted that respondents have the knowledge of NCDs occurring most in the self-employed-unskilled (43.0%). Also, 41% mentioned that the major healthcare option available to them is the use of herbal-based centres. The communities adjudged that, the most efficacious NCDs treatment option is the faith-based centres representing 47%. Only 4.4% strongly agreed that they take a lot of fruits a day. Also, only 24% of the respondents mentioned that they do not patronize commercially prepared foods. About 51% mentioned that the knowledge of non-communicable diseases has shaped their modifiable lifestyle. Conclusion: The study found that rural communities have moderate knowledge of the characteristics of NCDs and that has considerable implications for shaping their modifiable lifestyle practices.