Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec;15(12):1459-1465.
doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.11.004. Epub 2022 Nov 11.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards monkeypox during the 2022 outbreak: An online cross-sectional survey among clinicians in Ohio, USA

Benjamin R Bates  1 , Mario J Grijalva  2
Affiliations

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards monkeypox during the 2022 outbreak: An online cross-sectional survey among clinicians in Ohio, USA

Benjamin R Bates et al. J Infect Public Health. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Controlling monkeypox effectively requires clinicians have knowledge of monkeypox, attitudes supporting of controlling it, and intentions to adopt practices to address it. Little is known, however, about levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) in clinician populations in Ohio, United States.

Methods: A cross-sectional, internet-based questionnaire assessed knowledge related to monkeypox, attitudes toward ability to control monkeypox and the threat of monkeypox, and prior relevant practices of having received a smallpox vaccine or having knowledge of monkeypox before 2022, intentions to adopt preventive practices, and demographics. Frequency reporting was used to assess overall knowledge and attitudes. Binary logistic regression was used to predict which KAPs were associated with behavioral intentions.

Results: A total of 197 clinicians participated. No demographic factor was associated with KAPs. Clinicians had relatively poor levels of knowledge. Participants expressed mixed attitudes about eventual control of monkeypox and about threat posed by monkeypox. About one in four participants reported previous knowledge of monkeypox, and about 40 % had received a smallpox vaccine Clinicians reported insufficient levels of intention to adopt preventive practices. Binary regression analysis suggests only perceptions of the threat of monkeypox to public health were associated with intentions to vaccinate self or others.

Conclusions: Educational interventions with clinicians should address inadequate knowledge to support correct diagnosis and treatment. Efforts to enhance the perception of threat of monkeypox to public health may support adherence to preventive recommendations.

Keywords: Attitudes; Knowledge; Monkeypox; Ohio (US state); Practices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

References

    1. Ladnyj I.D., Ziegler P., Kima E. A human infection caused by monkeypox virus in Basankusu Territory, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bull World Health Organ. 1972;46(5):593–597. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thornhill J.P., Barkati S., Walmsley S., et al. Monkeypox virus infection in humans across 16 countries — April–June 2022. N Engl J Med. 2022;387(8):679–691. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2207323. - DOI - PubMed
    1. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multistate outbreak of monkeypox-- Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, 2003, JAMA. 2003;290(1): 30–1. Available from: doi:〈10.1001/jama.290.1.30〉. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bunge E.M., Hoet B., Chen L., et al. The changing epidemiology of human monkeypox—a potential threat? A systematic review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022;16(2) doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010141. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parums D.V. Editorial: Current status of non-endemic global infections with the monkeypox virus. Med Sci Monit. 2022;28 doi: 10.12659/msm.938203. - DOI - PMC - PubMed