Facing flood disaster: A cluster randomized trial assessing communities’ knowledge, skills and preparedness utilizing a health model intervention

Floods occur when a body of water overflows and submerges normally dry terrain. Tropical cyclones or tsunamis cause flooding. Health and safety are jeopardized during a flood. As a result, proactive flood mitigation measures are required. This study aimed to increase flood disaster preparedness among Selangor communities in Malaysia by implementing a Health Belief Model-Based Intervention (HEBI). Selangor’s six districts were involved in a single-blinded cluster randomized controlled trial Community-wide implementation of a Health Belief Model-Based Intervention (HEBI). A self-administered questionnaire was used. The intervention group received a HEBI module, while the control group received a health talk on non-communicable disease. The baseline variables were compared. Immediate and six-month post-intervention impacts on outcome indicators were assessed. 284 responses with a 100% response rate. At the baseline, there were no significant differences in ethnicity, monthly household income, or past disaster experience between groups (p>0.05). There were significant differences between-group for intervention on knowledge, skills, preparedness (p<0.001), Perceived Benefit Score (p = 0.02), Perceived Barrier Score (p = 0.03), and Cues to Action (p = 0.04). GEE analysis showed receiving the HEBI module had effectively improved knowledge, skills, preparedness, Perceived Benefit Score, Perceived Barrier Score, and Cues to Action in the intervention group after controlling the covariate. Finally, community flood preparedness ensured that every crisis decision had the least impact on humans. The HEBI module improved community flood preparedness by increasing knowledge, skill, preparedness, perceived benefit, perceived barrier, and action cues. As a result, the community should be aware of this module. Clinical trial registration: The trial registry name is Thai Clinical Trials Registry, trial number TCTR20200202002.