ACTIONS FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF ZOONOSES IN HEALTH EDUCATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

Diseases arising from the imbalance between the triad environment, humans, and animals affect individuals' health, as well as the social, and economic well-being of the world's population. Across the globe, health education activities are being conducted to prevent and control zoonoses. To guide future educational interventions, we reviewed scientific articles published in the last five years to characterize and verify the tools: target audience, duration, effectiveness, and gaps and difficulties. Four databases were searched, and 16 articles were selected for the meta-analysis, with 81.3% of the studies being conducted in underdeveloped or developing countries. Of these, 56.3% involved children under 14 years of age, and 62.5% involved activities in elementary and middle schools. The researchers are the professionals who are the most engaged in the activities, and 56.3% of the studies are conducted by veterinarians. Several new teaching tools have been proposed, demonstrating remarkable effectiveness. For systematic reviews to provide a guide for the design of new educational activities, it is necessary to better describe teaching methodologies and evaluation tools, as well as to evaluate in the long term, not only the impact of knowledge on the population but the incidence of zoonoses as well.