A survey on effect of health education on health volunteer performance and knowledge in prevention of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Yazd

Background Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), is one of the health priorities in many of the tropical areas of the world, and is also very common in Iran, especially in urban areas of the country. The best way of prevention of the disease is to increase knowledge in terms of prevention and early referral of suspected cases to physician, as well as suitable treatment for patients.Objective To define the influence of education on health volunteer performance and knowledge about CL in Yazd.Patients and methods In this semi-empirical survey, knowledge and performance of 74 randomly selected health volunteers in Yazd were assessed via questionnaire before and after the education. The resulting data were processed and analyzed by SPSS software and with ANOVA and paired t-test exams.Results This survey showed that knowledge and performance of health volunteers after the training course increased by 44% and 56%, with mean of 7.53 before education to 10.84 after the course, and from 1.12 to 1.75 respectively. The effect of the training course in terms of level of literacy and age group were assessed resulted in meaningful differences, as well.Conclusion It seems that the education has a significant influence on increase of knowledge and performance of health volunteer, and as these personnel have essential role in people s knowledge and health situation in community, so continuous use of these educational courses may result in a decline in prevalence of the disease