Knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with bioterrorism preparedness in healthcare workers: a systematic review

Tiantian Li; Yongzhong Zhang; Lulu Yao; Song Bai; Nan Li; Shaotong Ren

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1272738

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with bioterrorism preparedness in healthcare workers: a systematic review

Front Public Health. 2023 Oct 6:11:1272738. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1272738. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Tiantian Li¹, Yongzhong Zhang², Lulu Yao³, Song Bai⁴, Nan Li⁵, Shaotong Ren¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
² Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Institute of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
³ Emergency Medicine, Institute of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
⁴ Evaluation and Optimization of Health Emergency Response Capacity, SD, Institute of Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.
⁵ School of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Bioterrorism is an important issue in the field of biosecurity, and effectively dealing with bioterrorism has become an urgent task worldwide. Healthcare workers are considered bioterrorism first responders, who shoulder essential responsibilities and must be equipped to deal with bioterrorism. This study aims to extract and summarize the main research components of the bioterrorism knowledge, attitude, and practice dimensions among healthcare workers.

Method: This study utilized a systematic review research design based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases for peer-reviewed literature, and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018 was used to assess the quality of the literature.

Result: A total of 16 studies were included in the final selection. Through the analysis and summary of the included studies, three main aspects and 14 subaspects of the knowledge dimension, three main aspects and 10 subaspects of the attitude dimension, and two main aspects and six subaspects of the practice dimension were extracted.

Conclusion: This study conducted a literature review on bioterrorism knowledge, attitudes, and practices for healthcare workers based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The findings can guide improvements in health literacy and provide beneficial information to professional organizations that need to respond effectively to bioterrorism.

Keywords: attitudes; bioterrorism; healthcare workers; knowledge; practices; public health.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bioterrorism* / prevention & control
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Health Personnel
Humans

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2600504); relying on the China National Key Research and Development Program Research on Bioterrorism Prevention and Control Technology in Important Public Places.