title: Knowledge and concern about avian influenza among secondary school students in Taif, Saudi Arabia.
abstract: This study identified knowledge and concerns about avian influenza among secondary school students in Taif, Saudi Arabia. A stratified random sample of 514 students from 6 secondary schools was given a self-administered multiple-choice questionnaire. Knowledge scores were significantly related to socioeconomic indicators. Approximately 70% of the participants reported that media (TV and/or radio) was the source of their information. Overall, 65.4% of the participants said they expected there to be cases of avian influenza in Saudi Arabia this year. Females were more concerned than males (70.9% versus 58.9%). Effective school health education programmes should be implemented in order to prepare the community to deal with this important threat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Al-Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Al-Shehri
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdel-Fattah
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hifnawy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001717:Birds; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020380:Needs Assessment; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012572:School Health Services; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population