Upper respiratory tract infections and their association with knowledge, attitude and practice among Malaysian hajj pilgrims of 2007 A.D (1428 H)

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Date
2009
Authors
Mansoor, Sarab Malik
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Abstract
Each year more than two million Muslims perform the hajj rituals, in Makkah and Medina from over 140 countries. There are several factors contributing to the wide spread of URTIs, which include breathing of contaminated air, direct contact with infected people, over-crowded places, cigarette smoking and exposure to pathogens. One of the most common infections contracted by hajj pilgrims is URTIs. Based on references and reports, the most common causes are viruses. However, a small percentage of URTIs patients may develop secondary complications including bacterial infections. This study is aimed to evaluate the incidence URTIs and their level of severity as well as the level of knowledge, attitude and practice towards URTIs and their prevention among Malaysian Hajj Pilgrims. A cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2007 to January 2008, in Makkah and Medina, Saudi Arabia which involved 2211 Malaysian Hajj Pilgrims (1428H). Validated selfadministered questionnaire forms were distributed and used for data collection. Chisquare and bivariate correlation tests from statistical program SPSS version 15.0 were used for data analysis and P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The response rate of this study was 73.7%. It was found that more than half were women. Majority of respondents were Malays with mean age 53±10 years. The majority (86.6%) of respondents had URTIs; however only 12.4% had severe URTIs. The education status and gender contributed to severity level of URTIs. The most common symptom was cough. Slightly less than half had fever. It was found that 32% and 33.1% of them had good knowledge and good attitude towards URTIs and their prevention respectively. More than two third (69.1%) of them had good practice towards URTIs prevention. Knowledge level was statistically associated with educational status and monthly income. Age, education status and monthly income were considered as predisposing factors, which contributed to the attitude level. There was a significant association between the KAP levels. The association between severity level of URTIs and attitude level was not statistically significant. Slightly more than half (58.8%) of them received antibiotics for URTIs treatment. Majority stated requested antibiotics when having URTIs. In conclusion, this study showed that majority of respondents had URTIs. Hajj pilgrims who had good knowledge represented to be less severe URTIs. Thus it’s believed that further educational programs and behavior modification would improve KAP level to reduce the incidence and severity of URTIs. Implementation of proper antibiotic guidelines on URTIs would minimize the unnecessary use of antibiotics.
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Master
Keywords
Biological Science , Upper respiratory , Tract infections , Hajj pilgrims
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