Perceptions Among Medical Staff in Community Health Centres of Coping Capacity Regarding Infectious Disease Epidemics: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Yan Yang,1,2,* Ning Chen,3,* Mingwang Cheng,1 Chen Chen,4 Huining Zhou,2 Zhaoxin Wang,2 Wenya Yu,2,* Jianwei Shi5,6,* 1School of Economics & Management, Tongji University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Shanghai Jing ‘an District Jiangning Road Community Health Service Center, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of General Practice, Yangpu Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Health Services Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wenya YuSchool of Public Health, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 227 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected] ShiDepartment of General Practice, Yangpu Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, 450 Tengyue Road, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected]: With the increasing risk of infectious disease outbreaks around the world, the role of community health centres (CHCs) in the prevention and control of epidemics has become increasingly prominent. This study aimed to examine the capacities, vulnerabilities, and obstacles related to coping with infectious disease epidemics in Chinese CHCs.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai CHCs. Stratified random sampling was used to select 48 CHCs, and 2460 medical staff members responded to questionnaire surveys. ANOVA and multivariate analysis were used to evaluate the current situation and main obstacles regarding CHC medical staff members’ perceptions of their capacity to cope with infectious disease epidemics.Results: The scores for regulation awareness (mean= 3.64, SD= 0.02) and detection/reporting ability (mean= 3.66, SD= 0.02) were lower than the score for the ability to handle an epidemic (mean= 3.79, SD= 0.02). After controlling for covariates, working in a traditional Chinese medicine (β= − 0.63, P= 0.002) or medical technology department (β= − 0.60, P= 0.002), not having participated in emergency exercises (β= − 0.78, P< 0.001), and not having participated in emergency training (β= − 0.59, P= 0.01) were associated with lower scores on all three domains. Those with senior professional titles reported relatively high levels of ability to handle an epidemic (β= 0.21, P= 0.01). Female workers reported relatively low regulation awareness (β= − 0.11, P= 0.02) and detection/reporting ability (β= − 0.11, P= 0.01).Conclusion: The three emergency response abilities of CHC medical workers differed based on the medical worker’s sex, department, and title, indicating the need for targeted scientific emergency exercises and training for infectious disease outbreaks. Moreover, there is a need to improve the relevant policies and equipment.Keywords: disease outbreak, community health service centres, coping capacity, training

Keywords

• disease outbreak
• community health service centres
• coping capacity
• training