Analysis on the incidence of influenza-like syndromes and related health behavior factors among Beijing residents / 中华预防医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#The objective was to identify the incidence of influenza-like syndromes and related health behavior factors among Beijing residents.@*Methods@#From December 6, 2013 to January 16, 2014, we selected 150 villages or communities from 30 towns or streets as survey locations using a multi-stage random sampling method, and then conducted a cross-sectional study among 7 354 residents who aged 18 years or above and had live in Beijing for more than a half year using self-administered anonymous questionnaires, and totally 7 327 valid questionnaires are collected. The questionnaire consisted of demographic information, self-reported influenza-like syndromes in the past two weeks, and health behaviors. Multiple logistic regression models were used to identify the factors associated with self-reported influenza-like syndromes.@*Results@#The mean (SD) age of the partcipants was 44.6 (15.2) years. Among them, 6.9% (506 cases) reported having influenza like illness during the past two weeks. The multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that regular physical exercise, optimal hand hygiene, and avoidance of going to the crowded places during respiratory infectious disease epidemics were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of reporting influenza-like syndromes, compared with those without regular physical exercises, without optimal hand hygiene, and not avoiding going to the crowded places, and the OR(95%CI) were 0.80 (0.66-0.97), 0.75 (0.57-0.99) and 0.80 (0.65-0.98), respectively.@*Conclusion@#Personal health behaviors were associated with the incidence of respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza in Beijing, and future interventions to improve personal hygiene behaviors are needed to prevent the spread of respiratory infectious diseases.