Influence of country of study on student responsiveness to the H1N1 pandemic.
OBJECTIVE
University students, both travelling abroad on holiday or exchange students entering a country, can serve as mobile carriers of infectious diseases during a pandemic, and thus require special attention when considering preventive measures. The objectives of this study were to evaluate student compliance and opinions on preventive measures of a university before and during an H1N1 influenza pandemic, and to explore environmental and behavioural factors that might contribute towards compliance.


METHODS
Cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire.


METHODS
Local and foreign students attending an international summer school programme were invited to participate in a self-administered survey.


RESULTS
Respondents complied with most of the preventive measures, excluding website viewing and mask wearing. Significant differences in compliance and perceived necessity were found amongst students from Singapore, Hong Kong and the USA. Singaporean students were significantly more likely to comply with all measures and consume antiviral medication in response to the pandemic than students studying in the US.


CONCLUSIONS
Students' responses towards university pandemic measures were largely positive, but sensitivity towards these measures varied between groups by country of study. This should be considered in further comparative studies.
Griffiths
S M
SM
School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. siangriffiths@cuhk.edu.hk
Wong
A H
AH
Kim
J H
JH
Yung
T K C
TK
Lau
J T F
JT
D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D038622:Internationality; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D053139:Oseltamivir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011634:Public Health; D015980:Public Health Practice; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D053139:Oseltamivir