[The efficacy of play-based education in preventing dengue in primary-school children].

Objective: Evaluating the effectiveness of primary-school children's play-based education for improving knowledge about Dengue prevention, control and practice.

Methods: This was a before-after type intervention study which was carried out in Bucaramanga between July and November 2009. A group of leading primary-school children received play-based education about Dengue and leadership after they had been surveyed regarding their knowledge about dengue control practices. Then they signed commitments to implement action with family and neighbours; they were followed-up for four months and home visits were made to assess commitment and repeat the survey. Data was compared before and after, by Chi2 test, considering p<0.05 to be significant.

Results: Follow-up was completed for 89 of the 99 children (90 %). There were significant increases in knowledge about dengue as a disease (from 73 % to 95.5 %), as being very severe (82 % to 96.6 %), being transmitted by mosquitoes (82 % to 100 %), being caused by virus (1.1 % to 19.1 %), in recognising larvae (54 % to 95.5 %) and breeding sites (43 % to 88 %), recognising symptoms of fever (67.4 % to 97.8 %), pain in the bones (21.3 % to 62.9 %), headache (37.1 % to 64 %) and bleeding (16.8 % to 42.7 %), in the need for opportune consultation (77.5 % to 98.9 %), spraying (22.5 % to 47.2 %) and washing out water tanks (67.5 % to 89.7 %). The children fulfilled their commitment and creatively and inventively engaged in more activities.

Conclusions: Play-based education was effective in improving knowledge and practice regarding dengue prevention.