Study on knowledge, attitude and practice of avian influenza among poultry slaughterers in the epidemic areas

Objective The study was conducted to uncover the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding avian influenza (AI) that characterized the poultry slaughterers in the affected areas and current problems in AI control and prevention, providing evidence for the development of strategies and measures on AI-related health education and behavioral intervention. Methods Household surveys of 64 poultry slaughterers were conducted based on cluster sampling by trained investigators. Various literatures were referred to and a pilot test performed for the development of the questionnaire, in which the knowledge was quantified and scored with the influencing factors analyzed by the one-way ANOVA test. Results The poultry slaughters comprised mostly local farmers (70.3%), followed by poultry breeders (15.6%), and some floating workers (12.5%) in these areas. Surveys showed a general knowledge deficit on AI among these people; the average score was 10.2, the lowest 4.6 and the highest 13.0. Results of the one-way ANOVA test revealed that their education background was an influencing factor (P=0.016), as people with higher education levels often showed better knowledge of AI. In contrast, age, sex, monthly income and duration of dwelling were not related to the knowledge. Only seven subjects (10.9%) correctly answered the questions on the route of transmission of AI. Personal protective equipments, such as isolation gowns, face masks and goggles, were seldom adopted by 25.0% slaughterers in their routine work. They did not form such habitual behaviors as washing hands after contact with avian flesh. A total of 64.1% slaughterers chose to self-treat with drugs when sick, and this medical behavior was irrelevant to their education background (OR=0.50, 95%CI(0.25,1.01). A total of 50.0% slaughterers had no idea of the relationship between AI and themselves; 31.3% believed that AI was not related to their daily life, and 80.0% poultry breeders also believed so. Conclusion Education background was the influencing factor of AI-related knowledge. However, the poultry slaughterers' attitude to and practice regarding AI was not.