The 12-town area that includes Lyme Connecticut (population 84,614), has been endemic for Lyme disease (LD) since the early 1970's and continues to report one of the highest incidence rates of LD (3.2 cases per 1000 population in 1994 ) in the United States. As part of a three-year LD Community Intervention Proje ct, a survey was done in 1994, the first year of the project. This survey asse ssed the perceptions, knowledge, attitudes and preventative behaviors of reside nts in this area.
Data was collected via a 10-minute telephone survey. A stratified, random sam ple was drawn from the 12-town area. Over sampling of residents east of the Co nnecticut river was implemented to assure appropriate sample sizes for east and west of the river comparisons. Data was obtained from 509 participants (neast =259; nwest=250). Approximately 73% of the total sample reported that they beli eve LD is a "fairly" to "extremely" serious problem in their township. Residen ts east of the river rated LD as significantly more serious than residents west of the river (t=3.36, p<.01). Similarly, 82% of the respondents reported that LD was "fairly" to "extremely" common in their area, with east of the river res idents reporting LD as more common (t=3.37, p<.01). A large portion of the sam ple (86%) stated that they knew "a lot" or "some" about LD and its prevention. Over half of the sample reported taking at least some precautions to prevent LD (68%), however, the remaining 32% stated that they performed no preventive beh aviors over the past year.
With regard to the use of vaccines, data indicated that respondents were recept ive to the use of a vaccine for LD (74% responding yes), but indicated that vac cine safety was a specific concern. In contrast, respondents were less positiv e about the use of pesticides to control the tick population (45% responding ye s). This was a concern especially for respondents who use well water rather th an city water.