Public health awareness: knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the general public on health risks during the H1N1 influenza pandemic

Abstract

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. 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. 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. 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.