Department of Occupational Safety and Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, 406040, Taiwan.
Environmental Health Department, Ministry of Health, Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis.
Global Health. 2022 Sep 24;18(1):83. doi: 10.1186/s12992-022-00874-w.
High levels of public awareness regarding the hazards of asbestos, rights to health, and benefits of an asbestos-free country can increase advocacy and political commitment to a total ban on asbestos. We aimed to investigate asbestos awareness and associated sociodemographic characteristics among the adult population of St. Kitts and Nevis.
In this cross-sectional study, 1009 participants completed an online questionnaire with questions about sociodemographic data and asbestos awareness. We applied multiple regression models to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors, levels of asbestos knowledge, and attitudes toward asbestos management.
We found that 70% of residents of St. Kitts and Nevis considered asbestos exposure to be a general public concern and believed the government should prevent it. Of all participants, 54% were in favor of completely banning the use and importation of all asbestos products and materials; those with higher levels of asbestos knowledge were more likely to favor a total ban. Higher proportions and odds of favoring a total asbestos ban were also observed in participants aged ≥ 30 years, women, those with higher education, and those living in St. Kitts (vs. Nevis).
These findings support implementing policies to regulate and outright ban the use of asbestos products and materials in St. Kitts and Nevis. This data can be used to develop tailored campaigns to improve asbestos knowledge among sociodemographic groups with lower asbestos awareness, such as in the wider Caribbean and other under-resourced countries.
公众对石棉危害、健康权利和无石棉国家益处的认识水平提高，可以增强对全面禁止石棉的宣传和政治承诺。我们旨在调查圣基茨和尼维斯成年人对石棉的认识及其相关社会人口特征。
在这项横断面研究中，1009 名参与者完成了一份在线问卷，其中包含有关社会人口统计学数据和石棉认识的问题。我们应用多元回归模型来估计社会人口统计学因素、石棉知识水平和对石棉管理态度之间的关联。
我们发现，70%的圣基茨和尼维斯居民认为石棉暴露是一个公众关注的问题，并认为政府应该加以预防。在所有参与者中，54%赞成完全禁止使用和进口所有石棉制品和材料；那些具有更高石棉知识水平的人更倾向于全面禁止。在年龄≥30 岁、女性、受教育程度较高和居住在圣基茨（而非尼维斯）的参与者中，也观察到更高比例和更倾向于全面禁止石棉的可能性。
这些发现支持在圣基茨和尼维斯实施政策来规范和彻底禁止使用石棉制品和材料。这些数据可用于制定针对社会人口统计学群体的定制宣传活动，以提高那些对石棉认识较低的群体（如在更广泛的加勒比地区和其他资源匮乏的国家）的石棉知识水平。
