Preventive behaviors adults report using to avoid catching or spreading influenza, United States, 2015-16 influenza season

PLOS ONE, Nov 2019

Introduction Influenza vaccination can prevent influenza and potentially serious influenza-related complications. Although the single best way to prevent influenza is annual vaccination, everyday preventive actions, including good hygiene, health, dietary, and social habits, might help, too. Several preventive measures are recommended, including: avoiding close contact with people who are sick; staying home when sick; covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; washing your hands often; avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; and practicing other good health habits like cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, getting plenty of sleep, and drinking plenty of fluids. Understanding public acceptance and current usage of these preventive behaviors can be useful for planning both seasonal and pandemic influenza prevention campaigns. This study estimated the percentage of adults in the United States who reported practicing preventive behaviors to avoid catching or spreading influenza, and explored associations of reported behaviors with sociodemographic factors. Methods We analyzed data from 2015 National Internet Flu Survey, a nationally representative probability-based Internet panel survey of the non-institutionalized U.S. population ≥18 years. The self-reported behaviors used to avoid catching or spreading influenza were grouped into four and three non-mutually exclusive subgroups, respectively. Weighted proportions were calculated. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted prevalence differences and to determine independent associations between sociodemographic characteristics and preventive behavior subgroups. Results Common preventive behaviors reported were: 83.2% wash hands often, 80.0% cover coughs and sneezes, 78.2% stay home if sick with a respiratory illness, 64.4% avoid people sick with a respiratory illness, 51.7% use hand sanitizers, 50.2% get treatment as soon as possible, and 49.8% report getting the influenza vaccination. Race/ethnicity, gender, age, education, income, region, receipt of influenza vaccination, and household size were associated with use of preventive behaviors after controlling for other factors. Conclusion Many adults in the United States reported using preventive behaviors to avoid catching or spreading influenza. Though vaccination is the most important tool available to prevent influenza, the addition of preventive behaviors might play an effective role in reducing or slowing transmission of influenza and complement prevention efforts.

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Preventive behaviors adults report using to avoid catching or spreading influenza, United States, 2015-16 influenza season

March Preventive behaviors adults report using to avoid catching or spreading influenza, United States, 2015-16 influenza season Anup Srivastav 0 1 Tammy A. Santibanez 1 Peng-Jun Lu 1 M. Christopher Stringer 1 Jill A. Dever 1 Michael Bostwick 1 Marshica Stanley Kurtz 1 Noreen L. Qualls 1 Walter W. Williams 1 0 Leidos Inc , Atlanta , Georgia , United States of America, 2 Immunization Services Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, 3 Demographic Statistical Methods Division, U.S. Census Bureau , Durham , North Carolina, United States of America, 4 Division for Statistical and Data Sciences, RTI International , Washington, D.C. , United States of America, 5 Statistics and Operation Research, RTI International , Research Triangle Park , North Carolina, United States of America, 6 Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, Georgia , United States of America 1 Editor: Vineet Gupta, University of California San Diego , UNITED STATES - Data Availability Statement: Data used for this analysis contain potentially identifying information with restrictions on sharing covered under General Services Administration (GSA) Directive CIO P 2180.1 (GSA Rules of Behavior for Handling Personally Identifiable Information [PII]; https:// www.gsa.gov/directives-library/gsa-rules-ofbehavior-for-handling-personally-identifiableinformation-pii-21801-cio-p) or https://www.gsa. gov/reference/gsa-privacy-program/rules-andpolicies-protecting-pii-privacy-act). A dataset graphic factors. Methods Influenza vaccination can prevent influenza and potentially serious influenza-related complications. Although the single best way to prevent influenza is annual vaccination, everyday preventive actions, including good hygiene, health, dietary, and social habits, might help, too. Several preventive measures are recommended, including: avoiding close contact with people who are sick; staying home when sick; covering your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; washing your hands often; avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth; and practicing other good health habits like cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, getting plenty of sleep, and drinking plenty of fluids. Understanding public acceptance and current usage of these preventive behaviors can be useful for planning both seasonal and pandemic influenza prevention campaigns. This study estimated the percentage of adults in the United States who reported practicing preventive behaviors to avoid catching or spreading influenza, and explored associations of reported behaviors with sociodemoWe analyzed data from 2015 National Internet Flu Survey, a nationally representative probability-based Internet panel survey of the non-institutionalized U.S. population 18 years. The self-reported behaviors used to avoid catching or spreading influenza were grouped into four and three non-mutually exclusive subgroups, respectively. Weighted proportions were calculated. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted without PII cannot be posted at this time, but a limited dataset can be made available upon request. Data requests from researchers who meet criteria for access to confidential data may be sent to Dr. Walter W. Williams (); Technical Monitor, Task Order Contract and Dontanette L. Cohill (); Contracting Officer Representative, Task Order Contract. Funding: Leidos Inc. is a U.S. government contractor agency, not a funder of the project. Leidos Inc. contributed no funds to the product only providing support in the form of salary for the lead author [AS]. Leidos Inc. did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of this author are articulated in the `author contributions' section. Competing interests: I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: The corresponding author (AS) is affiliated with Leidos Inc. and this commercial affiliation does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. prevalence differences and to determine independent associations between sociodemographic characteristics and preventive behavior subgroups. Results Common preventive behaviors reported were: 83.2% wash hands often, 80.0% cover coughs and sneezes, 78.2% stay home if sick with a respiratory illness, 64.4% avoid people sick with a respiratory illness, 51.7% use hand sanitizers, 50.2% get treatment as soon as possible, and 49.8% report getting the influenza vaccination. Race/ethnicity, gender, age, education, income, region, receipt of influenza vaccination, and household size were associated with use of preventive behaviors after controlling for (...truncated)


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Anup Srivastav, Tammy A. Santibanez, Peng-Jun Lu, M. Christopher Stringer, Jill A. Dever, Michael Bostwick, Marshica Stanley Kurtz, Noreen L. Qualls, Walter W. Williams. Preventive behaviors adults report using to avoid catching or spreading influenza, United States, 2015-16 influenza season, PLOS ONE, 2018, Volume 13, Issue 3, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195085