Community knowledge, attitudes, and preferences towards vitamin A supplementation in a semi-rural health zone, Kasai Oriental, Democratic Republic of the Congo: a mixed-methods study

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BACKGROUND: Vitamin A deficiency remains a critical public health challenge and affects children under 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the community-level knowledge, preferences, and attitudes towards vitamin A supplementation in a semi-rural Health Zone, Kasaï-Oriental province. METHODS: = 420). Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis supported by NVivo 14. The primary respondents for the survey were mothers/caregivers of children under 5-years old. A negative binomial regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with vitamin A knowledge scores using Stata 17. RESULTS: The majority (95.5%) of respondents had relatively low knowledge scores (≤4). As reported by mother/caregiver, knowledge was positively associated with the father's level of education and information from community health workers (adjusted incidence rate ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.35 [1.02-1.78] and 1.56 [1.08-2.23], respectively). The community members had a positive attitude regarding vitamin A supplementation. In addition, the administration of vitamin A in health centres and at households were equally denoted as the preferred approaches. CONCLUSION: Community health workers played a key role in informing the community regarding vitamin A supplementation. Strengthening the competence and interactions of community health workers with community members is a key factor for successful vitamin A supplementation delivery.