An epidemiological study of domiciliary practices and health seeking behaviour among animal bite patients attending a hospital in Delhi

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Rabies, although a 100% fatal disease, is preventable with appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 360 animal bite patients in the anti-rabies clinic (ARC) of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi (VMMC & SJH). METHODS: A predesigned, pretested, structured questionnaire was administered by interview technique to assess the sociodemographic profile, health-seeking behavior, and the various domiciliary practices adopted by the animal bite patients. RESULTS: Out of 360 study participants (348; 96.7%) visited a health facility (government/private) after an animal-bite incident. Of the 241 study participants who washed their wounds, 131 (54.4%) had washed the wound using soap and water and 216 (89.6%) had washed the wound for less than 5 min. Chili paste (128; 35.6%) was the most commonly used household remedy. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: It was observed that a considerable segment of the study population approached health care facilities for vaccination following animal bite but did not practice the correct wound-washing practices immediately after the incident, and a sizeable proportion of the study participants resorted to non-allopathic practices (e.g., chili paste) as a measure of first aid to manage animal bite wounds. No association was found between the sociodemographic determinants and domiciliary practices and health-seeking behavior (P > 0.05). As rabies is a preventable disease, increasing awareness pertaining to its prevention may prove to be beneficial in reducing the morbidity and mortality.