title: The attitudes of primary healthcare providers towards web-based training on public health services in rural China: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the attitudes of primary healthcare workers, including township public health workers (TPHWs) and village doctors (ViDs), towards web-based training on basic public health services (BPHS) and to examine the factors influencing their attitudes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaires addressing training status, needs, and attitudes towards web-based public health training were administered to 2768 primary healthcare workers from May to September 2013. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the factors that were significantly associated with a positive attitude towards web-based public health training.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 2768 participants, 90.6% of the TPHWs and 86.9% of the ViDs expressed a positive attitude towards web-based BPHS training. TPHWs who had a positive attitude towards previous public health training (odds ratio [OR] = 2.75, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.28-5.93) and better computer skills (OR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.03-6.48) were more likely to adopt web-based training on BPHS, as were ViDs who had better computer skills (OR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.58-4.11) and better Internet speeds (neutral: OR = 2.81, 95% CI = 1.58-5.01; satisfied: OR = 2.53, 95% CI = 1.28-5.01). TPHWs who tended to read papers (OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.11-0.50) and were aged 50 years or older (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.14-0.87), as were ViDs who tended to read papers (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.29-0.77), expressed a more negative attitude towards web-based BPHS training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings indicated that most primary healthcare workers have a positive attitude towards web-based BPHS training. More priority measures, such as conducting computer training, improving Internet quality and integrating mobile technology, are recommended and will further improve the implementation of web-based public health training programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
authors.forename: X X
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
authors.forename: Z X
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, PR China. Electronic address: weirong.yan@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education*; D019035:Rural Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Attitudes; Basic public health service; China; Primary healthcare providers; Web-based training