Attitudes towards Zika virus infection among medical doctors in Aceh province, Indonesia

  • Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, a public health emergency of international concern, has recently been confirmed in Indonesia. However, to date, there has been no study to assess how prepared healthcare workers in Indonesia are to confront this emerging infectious disease. The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes of medical doctors in Indonesia towards ZIKV infection and its associated explanatory variables. A cross-sectional self-administered online survey was conducted from 3 May to 3 June 2016 in Aceh province, Indonesia. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data on doctors’ attitudes towards ZIKV infection and a range of explanatory variables (basic demographic data, professional characteristics, workplace characteristics and facilities, and medical experience related to ZIKV infection). Associations between attitude and explanatory variables were assessed using multiple-step logistic regression. We received 631 responses, 424 (67.19%) of which were included in the final analysis. Approximately 64% (271) of doctors had a poor attitude towards ZIKV infection. Experience considering ZIKV infection as a differential diagnosis and attendance at a national conference was associated with a good attitude, with odds ratios (OR) of 3.93 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15–13.49) and 1.69 (95% CI: 1.03–2.76), respectively. Unexpectedly, doctors who had attended an international conference and those working at places that had molecular diagnostic (polymerase chain reaction based testing) facilities had lower odds of having a good attitude (OR: 0.35 [95% CI: 0.15–0.84] and 0.42 [95% CI: 0.19–0.95], respectively). In conclusion, the attitude towards ZIKV infection is relatively poor among doctors in Aceh. Therefore, strategies for enhancing their capacity to respond to ZIKV infection are needed. The survey concept and tools were well accepted by the participants of this study, suggesting that this rapid assessment could be rolled out across the Indonesian archipelago and elsewhere to identify and regionally differentiate unmet needs of disease and outbreak preparedness.

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Author:Harapan HarapanORCiD, Alma Alleta, Samsul AnwarORCiD, Abdul Malik SetiawanORCiD, Reza Maulana, Nur Wahyuniati, Muhammad R. Ramadana, Ikram Ikram, Sotianingsih Haryanto, Kurnia Jamil, Ulrich KuchORCiDGND, Alfonso J. Rodriguez-Morales
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-457844
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2017.06.013
ISSN:1876-035X
ISSN:1876-0341
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28736184
Parent Title (English):Journal of infection and public health
Publisher:Elsevier
Place of publication:Amsterdam [u. a.]
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2017
Date of first Publication:2017/07/20
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2018/03/01
Tag:Attitude; Healthcare worker; Indonesia; Zika fever; Zika virus
Volume:11
Issue:1
Page Number:6
First Page:99
Last Page:104
Note:
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Limited on behalf of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
HeBIS-PPN:431957894
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitung 4.0