Medical Residents Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in H1N1 pandemic

Introduction: In an epidemic, health care providers (including medical residents) are in the risk of infection. Their proper compliance to the epidemic would lead to the successful management of the epidemic. The aim of this study was to assess the medical residents' knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) about influenza (H1N1) and its vaccination in H1N1 provincial referral hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. Methods: Using cross-sectional descriptive design, this study was carried out from 25 January to 30 March 2015 (during epidemic). All the medical residents in three H1N1 provincial referral hospitals (220 individuals) in Tabriz were included. A valid questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Over 51% of the participants were male. The mean score of knowledge and attitude about H1N1 was 53.5 and 62.2, respectively. There was no significant difference (P-value> 0.05) between the residents who had uptake influenza vaccine and students who refused in Knowledge level. Vaccination rate was calculated as 73%. “Fear of influenza infection” (34.6%) and “health facilities recommendation” (30.8%) were the main reasons of vaccination. Conclusions: Health authorities and medical universities must employ proper policies to improve the medical residents’ knowledge about H1N1. Also they must provide vaccination facilities in workplaces to increase the vaccination rate.