Knowledge and practice concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome among the institutionalized elderly in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective: To explore the knowledge and practices concerning prevention of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) among the institutionalized elderly in Hong Kong. Design: A cross-sectional analytical study with face-to-face interviews carried out from January 2004 to April 2004. Subjects: 336 elderlies from 35 old-age homes, which were randomly chosen from the 730 homes licensed by the Social Welfare Department in Hong Kong Main outcome measures: (1) The level of knowledge about SARS among the institutionalized elderlies in Hong Kong. (2) Changes (if any) in preventive practices among these elderlies before and after the local SARS outbreak in 2003. (3) The relationship between the level of knowledge and the frequency of adoption of preventive practices among the elderlies. Results: After conducting the interviews, we obtained three main results: Firstly, an inverse relationship was present between age and level of knowledge among the institutionalized elderly. Secondly, most of the elderly were able to recognize the symptom complex of SARS, and were thus likely to seek early medical advice. Last but not least, a majority of the respondents did not change their behaviours before and after the SARS outbreak in terms of adoption of preventive measures (e.g. mask wearing and hand washing). Conclusions: The relatively low level of awareness of the disease indicated that relevant educational intervention is necessary. It might be effective to direct such intervention at the staff of the institutions.