Monkeypox Disease (MPOX) Perceptions among Healthcare Workers versus General Population during the First Month of the WHO Alert: Cross-Sectional Survey in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Monkeypox disease (MPOX) recently re-emerged in May 2022, causing international outbreaks in multiple non-endemic countries. This study demonstrates a novel comparison between the knowledge and perceptions of Saudi healthcare workers (HCWs) and the general public regarding MPOX. Methods: An online survey, conducted from 27 May to 5 June 2022, assessing participants’ MPOX and monkeypox virus (MPV) knowledge in terms of transmission, vaccination, isolation precautions, and their attitudes toward seeking more information. Results: A total of 1546 members of the public and 1130 HCWs completed the survey. Briefly, 61.3% of the public and 74.2% of HCWs showed interest in seeking more information about MPOX. Both groups had average overall mean MPOX knowledge scores. Members of the public holding university degrees and those showing high levels of worry regarding MPOX had significantly higher knowledge scores. However, HCWs showed a poor vaccination knowledge score, while only 57% recognized that MPOX can present similarly to COVID-19 in the early stages. Female HCWs and those with high self-rated MPOX awareness had significantly high knowledge scores. HCWs in secondary and tertiary centers had significantly higher knowledge scores. Conclusion: Both groups showed a decent attitude in terms of seeking more MPOX knowledge, which correlated positively with their worry about and awareness of the disease. These observations are mostly as a consequence of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which encouraged the public and HCW to acquire more information about any novel emerging disease. Policymakers should make the most of this attitude in their awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of the disease and encourage vaccination in cases where it is needed. The knowledge gaps among HCWs were most evident in terms of clinical presentation and vaccinations; this problem needs addressing if we are to avoid further emerging MPOX cases.

Knowledge, Attitude and Conspiracy Beliefs of Healthcare Workers in Lebanon towards Monkeypox

“…For example, MPOX vaccination can have an important role in the preventive efforts for high-risk groups, including HCWs [ 19 ]. Additionally, satisfactory knowledge and positive attitude towards MPOX vaccination can affect HCWs’ recommendation of the vaccine for other high-risk groups (e.g., men who have sex with men (MSM)) [ 28 , 40 ]. Specifically, and in the context of MPOX vaccination intention among the general public in the U.S., Winters et al reported that the most trusted sources of information regarding the outbreak were HCWs [ 41 ].…”

“…Furthermore, prevention and treatment of infectious disease is a complicated process, as it often requires going beyond providing information, implementing preventive measures, which is dictated by the knowledge of the disease, attitudes toward prevention, and intentions to adopt recommended practices [ 21 ]. According to previous and recent studies involving health professionals, addressing gaps in MPOX knowledge can be considered an integral step to change attitudes and behavior [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. When attitudes are grounded with high knowledge, they are associated with more enduring and better predictors of behaviors.…”

Population‐based survey of human monkeypox disease knowledge in the Philippines: An online cross‐sectional study

“…raising awareness, strengthening information campaigns) and surveillance are essential priorities for high‐risk population groups in non‐endemic countries. These approaches prevent viral transmission (Temsah et al, 2022; Zardi & Chello, 2022). Despite limited evidence‐based preventive interventions, government and healthcare personnel can use COVID‐19 pandemic knowledge (Lulli et al, 2022).…”

“…A recent study conducted in Saudi Arabia comparing information‐seeking about monkeypox and vaccination knowledge between the general public and healthcare workers (HCWs) revealed that HCWs (74.2%) demonstrated a higher interest in information‐seeking than the general public (61.35%; Temsah et al, 2022). Interestingly, HCWs reported poor vaccination knowledge, while female HCWs in secondary and tertiary health centres with high monkeypox awareness showed significantly higher knowledge levels (Temsah et al, 2022). These findings indicate that HCWs may not recommend vaccination as one of the ways to prevent monkeypox.…”

Monkeypox Cross-Sectional Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Willingness to Vaccinate among University Students in Pakistan

“…When a study was carried out with the aim of understanding how many general practitioners have sound knowledge regarding Mpox, it was revealed that only 27% (Italy), and 18.6% (Saudi Arabia). Another study carried out in Saudi Arabia revealed that 48% of the general population had sufficient knowledge about Mpox [ 13 , 14 ].…”