Berhanu Negalign, Abrha Hailay, Ejigu Yohannes, Woldemichael Kifle
Department of Health Economics, Policy and Management, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Department of Epidemiology, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Ethiop J Health Sci. 2016 Sep;26(5):415-426. doi: 10.4314/ejhs.v26i5.3.
Over the past decade, the magnitude and intensity of disasters have been vividly rising globally due to the forces of nature or man. This study aimed at assessing the perceived knowledge, experiences and training needs of health professionals regarding disasters, their prevention and management in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia.
An institution based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 377 health professionals taken from 9 randomly selected districts out of 18. All health professionals working at health offices, hospitals and health centers were included. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire which was developed by the investigators after reviewing the relevant literature in the field. Data were coded and entered into SPSS 20 software for cleaning and analysis. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were done.
The majority (85.1%) of the participants were able to define the concept of disaster from various perspectives; 9.7% did not know about it at all and 5.2% could describe the concept partially or misconceived it. The majority (84.3%) agreed that disaster has direct public health consequences on humans. The main public health consequence of disaster the participants mentioned was environmental pollution (65.8%). Malaria, measles and diarrhoeal diseases accounted for 35.5%, 33.1% and 10.5% of the epidemics, respectively. Only 20.6% of the respondents were trained on disaster related topics in the last two years. The majority felt that they had poor knowledge on early warning indicators of drought (48.0%) and flood (48.0%). Simialry, 50.8%, 47.7%, 51.1% and 42.6% of the participants had poor knowledge on preparedness to drought, preparedness to flood, response to drought, response to flood. On composite scale, they generally perceived to have adequate (29.4%), moderate (32.4%) and poor (38.2%) knowledge about early warning information bout, preparedness for and response to common disasters. A vast majority (92.8%) reported that they need training on disaster preparedness, management and response.
A considerable number of professionals had limited understanding about the concept of disaster and response to certain specific disasters. They also had limited opportunities for training, despite their felt needs. Therefore, training should be provided focusing on the specific gaps identified.
在过去十年中，由于自然或人为力量，全球灾害的规模和强度一直在显著上升。本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚西南部吉马地区卫生专业人员对灾害及其预防和管理的认知、经验和培训需求。
对从18个区中随机抽取的9个区的377名卫生专业人员进行了一项基于机构的横断面调查。所有在卫生办公室、医院和卫生中心工作的卫生专业人员均被纳入。使用研究人员在查阅该领域相关文献后编制的结构化问卷收集数据。数据进行编码并录入SPSS 20软件进行清理和分析。进行了描述性和逻辑回归分析。
大多数（85.1%）参与者能够从不同角度定义灾害概念；9.7%的人根本不知道，5.2%的人只能部分描述或误解了该概念。大多数（84.3%）人同意灾害对人类有直接的公共卫生后果。参与者提到的灾害的主要公共卫生后果是环境污染（65.8%）。疟疾、麻疹和腹泻病分别占疫情的35.5%、33.1%和10.5%。在过去两年中，只有20.6%的受访者接受过与灾害相关主题的培训。大多数人认为他们对干旱（48.0%）和洪水（48.0%）的预警指标了解不足。同样，50.8%、47.7%、51.1%和42.6%的参与者对干旱防备、洪水防备、干旱应对、洪水应对了解不足。在综合量表上，他们普遍认为对常见灾害的预警信息、防备和应对有足够（29.4%）、中等（32.4%）和不足（38.2%）的了解。绝大多数（92.8%）人报告说他们需要接受灾害防备、管理和应对方面的培训。
相当数量的专业人员对灾害概念以及对某些特定灾害的应对理解有限。尽管他们有培训需求，但培训机会也有限。因此，应针对所发现的具体差距提供培训。
