Intervention effects of knowledge and skills of the public to respond to public health emergencies in Sichuan province, China.

Background: Public health emergencies have a significant impact on the health of citizens, the local economy, and society as a whole. Currently, in many parts of China, there is a widespread lack of the knowledge and skills required for emergency preparedness and self-rescue. By carrying out targeted health education and intervention activities, and by popularizing the knowledge and skills in health emergencies, the abilities of citizens to respond to public health emergencies and protect themselves, reduce property damage, and eliminate unnecessary panic may be greatly improved.

Objectives: The knowledge and skills of the public to respond to public health emergencies after an intervention in Sichuan province were surveyed. The conditions before and after the intervention were compared, and the effect of the intervention was evaluated.

Methods: Four counties in Sichuan province were selected for baseline survey by means of a multistage random sampling method. Among the districts and counties, one of each was selected for baseline survey as an intervention group and another of each were selected as controls. After 1 year of intervention, respondents were selected from the intervention group by means of the method used for the baseline survey for effect evaluation.

Results: After statistical analysis, it was shown that, after the intervention, the total awareness rate of knowledge to respond to public health emergencies increased from 42.6% to 58.4% among men and from 42.9% to 55.8% among women, both significant differences (p < .001). It was also shown that the total awareness rates of the 18-35, 36-45, 46-60, and 60+ age-groups, respectively, increased from 44.5%, 43.7%, 42.2%, and 37.8% to 62.1%, 56.0%, 56.8%, and 51.9%, which were also significant differences (p < .001). Intervention, educational level, occupation, discussion with the families, and disaster experience were the main influential factors for the knowledge and skills of sudden public health events.

Conclusions: The study results show that, after the intervention in Sichuan province, the knowledge and skills of the public to respond to public health emergencies were significantly improved. It is also shown that health education interventions must be developed in accordance with geographical features, the educational level of the population, age characteristics, and other factors.