Manifestaciones tendenciales del conocimiento sobre participación comunitaria en líderes para la prevención de la leptospirosis

Background: over the last years in Pinar del Rio province, there is a somewhat downward trend in morbidity and mortality due to leptospirosis. Although it shows indicators slightly above the incidence rate at the national level, and the prevalence of risk factors that damage the environment, stable results are not obtained in reducing the incidence and control of this condition. Objective: to determine the level of knowledge of community leaders for community participation in leptospirosis prevention in La Conchita and Celso Maragoto in Pinar del Rio municipality during January and February, 2016. Methods: a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted to determine trends in knowledge in community leaders towards the prevention of leptospirosis. The studied was composed of 333 community leaders of La Conchita and Celso Maragoto, belonging to the Hermanos Cruz and Raul Sanchez health areas respectively, in Pinar del Rio municipality. Results: the level of knowledge of community leaders within the municipality after carrying out the surveys that included main aspects about leptospirosis, community participation, as well as level of motivation and attitude for the prevention of leptospirosis with community participation, is still insufficient, less than half of the participants passed the questionnaire. Conclusions: community leaders have insufficient knowledge to achieve preventive actions with community participation, which leads to improvisation and voluntarism, that a training program will be useful to increase knowledge in community leaders and to achieve effective and sustainable changes in the control and prevention of leptospirosis. DeCS: DISEASE PREVENTION; LEPTOSPIROSIS/prevention & control; PROMOCION DE LA SALUD; RISK FACTORS; EPIDEMIOLOGY, DESCRIPTIVE.