Knowledge and Preparedness of Healthcare Providers Towards Bioterrorism

Abstract

Introduction: Several emergent circumstances require healthcare providers to be able to recognize the dangerous and uncommon pathogenic agents. An in-depth literature review showed that studies about bioterrorism preparedness amongst healthcare providers from the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, are lacking. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the knowledge and preparedness level of first emergency respondents towards bioterrorism events, which are the emergency department (ED) healthcare providers and the poison control center/clinical laboratory staff. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between at the Emergency departments and poison control centers/clinical laboratories three in major tertiary care hospitals in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. The subjects were randomly selected to complete the self-administered questionnaire to collect study outcomes. Results: A total of 1030 participants were included in the final data analysis. The majority were nurses, 516 (50.1%) and doctors 351 (34.1%), and females 550 (53.6%). Overall, the findings revealed a mean knowledge score of 4.92 ± 1.86 out of 12 in the basic concepts of bioterrorism and basic clinical presentations of bioterrorism-related agents. Moreover, the findings showed a mean knowledge score of 22.80 ± 3.92 out of 38 in the bioterrorism preparedness and governing policies and procedures. Respondents who received previous training in bioterrorism preparedness had a significantly higher number of perceived benefits than those not sure and without prior training (z = -2.67, p = 0.008) and (z = - 4.4, p < 0.0001), respectively. About 79.4% of participants did not have previous training in bioterrorism preparedness, but 68.7% expressed willingness in the institution's response and control to assist in the event of a bioterrorist attack. Conclusion: Although healthcare professionals have reported their willingness to assist in bioterrorism events, they need to enhance their knowledge towards bioterrorism preparedness. Funding Statement: The study was funded by King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Declaration of Interests: Authors have no conflict of interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the institutional review boards at the study site. Participants’ completion of the questionnaire implied their consent to take part in the study.