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

Abstract

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.

Confidence in managing human monkeypox cases in Asia: A cross-sectional survey among general practitioners in Indonesia

“…Our study found that majority of study participants were female, younger GPs which were in early career which is similar with previous studies (Harapan et al, 2017a;Harapan et al, 2018a;Harapan et al, 2019); suggesting the results might reflect the contemporary condition of GPs in Indonesia. There is only a small percentage of GPs in Indonesia who have good confidence in diagnosing and treating HMPX cases in clinical settings.…”

“…answered three and two questions correctly, respectively). We have used a similar cut-off point to dichotomize variables in previous studies (Harapan et al, 2017a;Harapan et al, 2018a;Harapan et al, 2017b;Harapan et al, 2016;Harapan et al, 2019). A two-step logistic regression analysis was used to explore the potential explanatory variables associated with confidence.…”

“…Following the design and setting of previous studies (Harapan et al, 2017a;Harapan et al, 2018a;Harapan et al, 2019), an online cross-sectional study was conducted in Indonesia between 25 May 2019 and 25 July 2019. The population was all registered GPs.…”

“…The score of each question were summed into a single scale ranging from 0 to 3, in which higher scores indicate better confidence. This scoring system has been used previously (Harapan et al, 2017a;Harapan et al, 2018a;Harapan et al, 2018b;Harapan et al, 2019).…”

“…Sociodemographic data of the participants such as gender, age, educational attainment, type of job, current location, and monthly income were collected. Age was grouped into those 30-years-old or younger and older than 30-years old to make ages comparable to previous work (Harapan et al, 2018a;Harapan et al, 2019). Educational attainment was dichotomized into GP and GP with master or doctorate degree while type of job was divided into GP and GP with residency.…”