Specifying skills for proficient control of aedes aegypti oviposition in flowerpot saucers through the use of net covers

Net covers have been used as physical barriers to prevent oviposition by the dengue vector Aedes aegypti into water-bearing containers. However, their efficacy as a prevention tool depends upon the proficiency (correctness) with which they are used. In the first part of this paper we describe the method by which a pattern of skills for the proficient use of a kind of net cover for flowerpot saucers (evidengue®) was empirically specified into verbal descriptions, or categories. After identifying by direct video observation a set of key-skills to meet predetermined specifications of the proficiency of the use of the evidengue®, we specified these skills in four categories of proficiency. In the second part of the paper we describe the procedure and the results of an experimental evaluation which aimed at measuring the extent to which the skills specified in the categories were performed by four groups of high school students, after an educational practice on dengue prevention in classroom. The evaluation compared two skills instruction procedures for the proficient use of evidengue®. In one of the procedures the skills were explicitly instructed through a video and/or leaflet in three experimental groups. In the other, the skills were not explicitly instructed. Trained observers independently recorded the frequency of the categories. The inter-observer agreement indices obtained show that the measurement of the frequencies of three of the four categories was reliable. In the inter-group comparison, the evaluation showed that the group that was submitted to explicit instruction of the skills through video and leaflet yielded relatively higher frequency of categories of proficiency than the others. Studies such as the one we present here make it possible to create reliable indicators of proper use of resources aimed at prevention of oviposition and consequent control of Ae. aegypti breeding at the household level.