Table 2.

Knowledge on kala-azar disease among the study participants in Madhepura district, Bihar, India, 2014 (percentage) (N = 296)

Variables	Categories	Percentage	Frequency
Heard of kala-azar (N = 352)	Yes*	84.1	296
	No	15.9	56
Kala-azar as a communicable disease (N = 296)	Yes*	22.0	65
	No	51.0	151
	Don’t know	27.0	80
Mode of transmission†	Mosquito bites	79.9	155
	Sand fly bites*	18.6	36
	Polluted water	13.9	27
	Other	3.6	7
	Don’t know	34.5	102
Signs and symptoms†‡	Fever for than 15 days	92.8	192
	Loss of weight	31.4	65
	Enlargement of liver	20.8	43
	Enlargement of spleen	4.3	9
	Change of complexion	9.2	19
	Loss of appetite	4.8	10
	Pain in abdomen	0.5	1
	Don’t know	30.1	89
Outcome if untreated	Death*	98.0	290
	Other	2.0	6
Groups most affected by kala-azar†	Poor*	68.6	188
	Scheduled caste/tribe	28.1	77
	Women	28.1	77
	Children	28.8	79
	Agricultural laborers*	13.9	38
	Anyone	15.0	41
	Don’t know	7.4	22

Other responses were scored 0.

^*Correct response and assigned score 1 in index.

^†Multiple responses.

^‡Scores were assigned for single response and combination of responses: 0.5 for only fever, 0.5 for only weight loss, 0.5 for weight loss and loss of appetite, change in complexion was given a score of 1.0, other combinations were assigned 1.0 score, and “don’t know any symptom” was scored as 0.