Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia Health campus, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia.
Faculty of Medicine, Medical Campus Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu 20400, Malaysia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Nov 18;16(22):4569. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16224569.
Respiratory tract infection (RTI) is a major public health challenge during the Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Malaysian Hajj and Umrah pilgrims towards the prevention of RTIs in 2018 and determine correlations among three domains. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 225 Umrah and Hajj pilgrims. Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards RTI prevention was assessed by using a validated self-administered questionnaire among pilgrims attending a weekly orientation course organized by private Hajj/Umrah companies. Out of 225 participants, 65.9% of respondents were female with the mean (SD) age of 46.74 (13.38) years. The interquartile range (IQR) score for knowledge is 18.0 (6.0), the mean scores of attitude and practice are 32.65 (4.72) and 25.30 (4.9). respectively. Significant and negative linear correlations between knowledge and practice ( = -0.232, < 0.001), and attitude and practice ( = 0.134, = 0.045) were observed. Results from the current study showed good knowledge of RTIs among Malaysian pilgrims. However, a poor attitude was reflected in their preventive practice behaviors. This will further help in the prevention and management of RTIs during Hajj and Umrah. Therefore, an extensive educational health campaign should be provided to pilgrims to create awareness.
呼吸道感染（RTI）是麦加朝觐期间的主要公共卫生挑战。本研究旨在评估 2018 年马来西亚朝觐和副朝朝圣者对预防 RTI 的知识、态度和实践，以及确定三个领域之间的相关性。在 225 名副朝和朝觐朝圣者中进行了一项横断面研究。通过在私人朝觐/副朝公司组织的每周培训课程中向参加者提供经过验证的自我管理问卷，评估对 RTI 预防的知识、态度和实践（KAP）。在 225 名参与者中，65.9%的受访者为女性，平均（SD）年龄为 46.74（13.38）岁。知识的四分位距（IQR）评分为 18.0（6.0），态度和实践的平均评分为 32.65（4.72）和 25.30（4.9）。知识和实践之间存在显著的负线性相关性（= -0.232，<0.001），态度和实践之间也存在显著的正线性相关性（=0.134，=0.045）。目前的研究结果表明，马来西亚朝圣者对 RTI 有较好的了解。然而，他们的预防实践行为反映出态度不佳。这将有助于进一步预防和管理朝觐和副朝期间的 RTI。因此，应向朝圣者提供广泛的健康教育运动，以提高认识。
