Public health awareness: knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the general public on health risks during the H1N1 influenza pandemic
Public health awareness: knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the general public on health risks during the H1N1 influenza pandemic
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DOI：
10.1007/s10389-017-0790-7
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发表时间：
2017-06-01
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
Hariharan, Seetharaman
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Johnson, Emmanuel Janagan;Hariharan, Seetharaman
在疾病暴发期间提供卫生信息是暴发控制战略的一个基本组成部分。这项研究旨在确定提供信息的重要性，以提高社区对个人卫生和安全措施的卫生意识，并减少对疾病传播的恐惧。方法2016年特立尼达和多巴哥甲型H1N1流感流行后，重新设计一份14项问卷，随机抽取公众进行电子邮件调查。调查问卷旨在了解公众对H1N1流感的认识，并包括该疾病的大多数方面。回答选项从来都不是开放式的，要么是“是”，要么是“否”，要么是“不知道”，而一个回答是1-5分的李克特量表。结果在120份邮寄问卷中，有110份回复合格纳入分析，回复率为94%。大多数应答者为男性（68.2%），56.3%为印度-特立尼达族。总体而言，98%的应答者知道疾病的致病微生物，但他们对疾病传播方式的看法存在分歧。此外，对H1N1的高危人群和死亡模式也有不同的反应。超过四分之三的受访者不同意这是一种严重疾病的说法，超过一半的受访者同意可以预防它。结论虽然公众对流感流行有一定的了解，但对疾病的传播和预防措施等信息的细节仍不清楚。应加强卫生信息的传播，以提高人们对大流行病的认识，特别是关于可获得疫苗接种的重要信息。研究结果还强调了提供信息的重要性，这些信息可以提高社区对个人卫生和安全措施的卫生意识，并减少对疾病传播的恐惧。
Objectives Providing health information during disease outbreaks is a fundamental component of outbreak control strategies. This study aimed to identify the importance of providing information that increases community health awareness on personal hygiene and safety measures and reduces fear of the spread of disease.Method A 14-item questionnaire was designed de novo and emailed to the randomly chosen general public in Trinidad and Tobago during 2016 in the aftermath of an H1N1 epidemic. The questionnaire was intended to capture the awareness of the general public regarding the H1N1 influenza and included most dimensions of the ailment. The response choices were never open ended, either 'yes' or 'no' or 'do not know', while one response was on a Likert scale of 1-5.Results Of the 120 mailed questionnaires, 110 of those returned were eligible to be included for analysis (94% response rate). The majority of the responders were male (68.2%) and of 56.3% were Indo-Trinidadian ethnicity. Overall, 98% of the responders knew the causative organism of the illness, while they were divided in their opinion regarding the mode of disease transmission. Also there were varied responses with regard to the high-risk groups and mode of mortality in H1N1. More than three-quarters of respondents disagreed with the statement that it was a serious illness and more than half of the respondents agreed that it was possible to prevent it.Conclusion Although the general public had reasonable knowledge regarding the influenza epidemics, they were still unclear regarding details of the information such as the spread of the illness as well as preventative measures. Health information dissemination should be enhanced to create more awareness regarding pandemics, especially salient information about the availability of a vaccination. The findings also highlight the importance of providing information that increases community health awareness on personal hygiene and safety measures and reduces fear of the spread of disease.