成人头条

Skip to main content
  • Research
  • Published:

Knowledge, practice, and information sources regarding infectious diseases among Chinese children and adolescents: a National-Level cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective

To investigate the characteristics and interrelationships between knowledge, preventive practice, and information sources of infectious diseases among Chinese children.

Methods

This study used data collected from the baseline survey of a China national multi-centered cluster-randomized controlled trial in 2013. A total of 30,287 children completed a questionnaire package that included measures for knowledge, preventive practice and information sources related to infectious diseases.

Results

The mean scores of knowledge and prevention practices of infectious diseases were 2.35 and 12.16, respectively. Children received information about infectious diseases primarily through school, other individuals, and electronic media. Knowledge and practices among children differed significantly across gender, age, single-child, living with parents or not, residence(urban/rural), regions, parental age and parents鈥 education levels. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that higher levels of knowledge(b鈥=鈥0.102), and receiving information through schools(b鈥=鈥0.054), electronic media(b鈥=鈥0.016), and paper media(b鈥=鈥0.054) were significantly associated with better preventive practice.

Conclusions

Children鈥檚 knowledge and various sources of access to information significantly predicted the prevention practice score. It might add value to future interventions and policy-making in promoting preventive measures for infectious diseases.

Peer Review reports

Background

The Global Burden of Disease report indicated that infectious diseases are the leading cause of premature death in children and adolescents, including diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and sepsis [1]. It is estimated that at least 25% of the approximately 60 million deaths that occur worldwide each year are caused by infectious diseases [2, 3]. An analysis of infectious disease surveillance data in China showed that from 2008 to 2017, the overall incidence of infectious diseases aged 6鈥22 years (total population: 4,959,790) decreased from 279.7 per 100,000 in 2008 to 162 per 100,000 in 2015 but increased to 242 per 100,000 in 2017 [4]. Obviously, the prevention and control of infectious diseases in children should not be neglected.

Infectious diseases can be transmitted in many ways, such as respiratory, contact, blood and mother-to-child transmission [5, 6]. Although some infectious diseases can be prevented by vaccines or drugs, there are also some infectious diseases that currently lack effective vaccines and drugs, the risk of infection will still exist and cause epidemics and outbreaks of infectious diseases. These epidemics not only impact the mental and physical health of children and adolescents, but also lead to social instability and severe economic downturns [7, 8]. In the absence of effective drugs and vaccines, the most effective measures to protect people from the impact of diseases are to enhance the public鈥檚 knowledge of infectious disease prevention and change related behaviors through effective transmission methods [9].

With high personnel density, close population contact and large susceptible population, infectious diseases are more likely to occur and spread in schools. Therefore, it is very important to strengthen students鈥 knowledge of prevention of infectious diseases and attach importance to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in schools [10]. However, the implementation rate of preventive practices in children is often low [11]. For children and adolescents at this pivotal stage of life, acquiring adequate knowledge of infectious disease is particularly valuable in developing proper awareness and shaping favorable preventive behaviors that can persist into adulthood [12]. Nonetheless, there is limited national-level evidence on the knowledge and practices related to infectious diseases and their relationships among children and adolescents in China.鈥.

The implementation of infectious disease prevention practices and the dissemination of knowledge are influenced external factors, with information sources being a significant determinant [13,14,15]. Recent studies found that different types of information sources can enhance public health awareness and are significantly associated with prevention practices [16, 17]. Moreover, information sources (e.g., schools, electronic media, paper media, and other people) play a non-ignorable role in disseminating disease-related knowledge, guiding preventive practice, and influencing the implementation of specific policies [17, 18].

In light of the aforementioned information, the current study aimed to:

  1. 1)

    Understand the knowledge, preventive practices, and information sources of infectious diseases among Chinese children and adolescents;

  2. 2)

    To explore the associations between knowledge, and information sources, and preventive practices. It is expected that this national-level study is expected to make valuable contributions to the future development of interventions and policies aimed at controlling and preventing infectious disease among children and adolescents.

Methods

Study design and participants

Data were obtained from the baseline survey of the Chinese school obesity intervention project for children and adolescents (Project Name: Development and application of student critical disease prevention and control technology and related standards; Trial registration date: January 22, 2015; Registration number: NCT02343588, ). In September 2013, the baseline survey was conducted among children and adolescents in seven provinces [Liaoning (Northeast China), Tianjin (North China), Ningxia (Northwest China), Hunan (Central China), Shanghai (Central China), Chongqing (Central China), and Guangdong (South China)] using a multi-stage cluster random sampling method. The details of the study have been described elsewhere [19]. Ultimately, a total of 30,287 participants aged 6鈥17 years were included in the final analysis of this study, of whom 34,521 were excluded (including 289 participants aged鈥夆墺鈥18 years, 20,982 participants with incomplete answers on knowledge, preventive measures, and information sources, and 13,539 participants with missing demographic information). The exclusion flow of participants is shown in Fig. 1. This study adhered to the STROBE guidelines, and received approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of Peking University Health Science Center (No.IRB0000105213034). Informed consent forms were voluntarily signed by all participants and their parents.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Participant screening flow chart

Measures

The questionnaire package consisted of four parts: demographic characteristics, knowledge, preventive practice, and information sources regarding infectious diseases. Demographic information included gender, age, residence (rural or urban), regions (the seven provinces were recategorized as north, central, and south China), single-child, living arrangement (with parents or not), monthly household income, parents鈥 age and education levels. Students from grade 1 to grade 3 in primary school were assisted by their parents to fill in the questionnaire.

The knowledge and preventive practice questionnaires were self-developed based on the guidelines of infectious disease prevention by the National Health Commission of the People鈥檚 Republic of China, we also tested the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. A total of 199 students from two primary schools were investigated twice with the questionnaire, and the time interval between the two consecutive surveys was 2 weeks. The results showed that the Cronbach alpha coefficient and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin values of the first questionnaire were 0.81 and 0.87, and 0.91 and 0.92 two weeks later, respectively. The reliability and validity of the first and second questionnaires were very close, so the questionnaires we used were very reliable.

The knowledge questionnaire consisted of four true-or-false questions designed to assess the participants鈥 knowledge regarding infectious diseases. Correct answer was scored one point, while incorrect answer was scored for zero point. The practice questionnaire, it consisted of 10 questionswith scores ranging from 0 to 18, comprised ten items, with a total score of 0鈥18 for each person. Eight items were scored based on a 2-point scale, with 2 points for 鈥榓lways/often鈥 or correct behavior, 1 point for 鈥榮ometimes鈥 or less ideal behavior, 0 point for 鈥榬arely/never鈥 or incorrect behavior. And the detailed calculation of score for each question were listed in Supplementary Table 1.

The information sources of infectious diseases included schools (e.g., classes/lectures, extra-curricular activities, teachers), electronic media (e.g., Internet, radio/TV/film), paper media (e.g., posters/leaflets, books and magazines) and from other individuals (e.g., parents, classmates/friends, doctors). Participants were asked to indicate the main sources where they obtained the information about infectious diseases (Yes鈥=鈥1/No鈥=鈥0) and to evaluate their preference for each information channel (Yes鈥=鈥1/No鈥=鈥0).

Statistical analyses

Descriptive information of sample demographics, knowledge, preventive practice, and information sources of infectious diseases were described using mean鈥壜扁塻tandard deviation (SD) or frequency with percentage (%). T test, analysis of variance and Chi-square test were used to analyze the difference of the dependent variables, including knowledge score, preventive practice score and information sources, across participants鈥 demographic characteristics. Hierarchical linear regression models were employed to examine the association between practices and both knowledge and information sources among children and adolescent. In Model 1, demographics were added as covariates. Subsequently, in Model 2 and Model 3, knowledge and information sources were sequentially added. The effect sizes (Cohen鈥檚 f2) of model prediction were calculated using the formula 鈥f2鈥=鈥R2/(1-R2)鈥, with values of 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35 indicating a small, medium and large effect, respectively [20]. The statistical significance level was set as P鈥<鈥0.05 (two-tailed). Furthermore, interactions between knowledge and information sources in infectious disease practice scores and levels were explored. The practice scores of preventing infectious disease were categorized into high and low levels based on the 50th percentile. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 20.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA).

Results

Participants鈥 characteristics

A total of 30,287 children between the ages of 6 and 17 were included in the study. As shown in Table 1, 14,954 (49.4%) were boys and 15,333 (50.6%) were girls. The study population consisted of children aged 6鈥8 years (10,233/30,287, 33.8%), followed by 9鈥11 years old (8,355/30,287, 27.6%), 12鈥14 years old (6,979/30,287, 23.0%) and 15鈥17 years old (4,720/30,287, 15.6%). Just over two-thirds (67.4%) of the participants were the only child in their families, and only 8.5% (n鈥=鈥2,588) of them did not live with their parents. In addition, more than half (n鈥=鈥16,474, 54.4%) of the children and adolescents were from central China; 61.7% (n鈥=鈥18,692) were living in the urban areas and 31.1% had very low household income (<鈥5000 yuan a month). Near half of the parents had received an 鈥榡unior high school or below鈥 level of education (mothers: 47.2%; fathers: 43.1%). The majority of parents were under 45 years old (mothers: 93.1%; fathers: 86.1%). Demographic characteristics for different regions are compared in Supplementary Table 2.

Table 1 Sample characteristics (N=30,287)

Knowledge of infectious diseases

Most participants have a high level of knowledge regarding 鈥渟haring towels can potentially spread pinkeye鈥 (n鈥=鈥23,886; 78.9%) and 鈥渨ashing your hands helps prevent influenza鈥 (n鈥=鈥27,274; 90.4%). Conversely, the study showed that participants who correctly responded to febrile temperature and TB symptoms were 27.2% and 38.3%, respectively, as presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Knowledge, preventive measures, and information sources regarding infectious diseases (N=30,287)

The mean infectious diseases-related knowledge score of children and adolescents was 2.35(SD鈥=鈥0.93). Statistically significant differences were observed across various demographic factors, including age, gender, residence, region, living with parents, single-child status, monthly household income, and parents鈥 age or education levels (P鈥<鈥0.05, Table 3).

Table 3 Knowledge and practice regarding infectious diseases by students鈥 characteristics (N=30,287)

Preventive practices towards infectious diseases

As shown in Table 2, of the participants, 46.3% reported that they would inform their teachers when they experience fever, cough or other symptoms. The majority of the participants would always/often wash their hands before eating (77.1%), after using the toilet (86.1%) and upon arriving home (71.2%). In total, 52% of participants chose to wash their hands with running water and soap/hand sanitizer, 3,271 (10.8%) participants reported that they would spit on tissues/handkerchief/spittoons/toilets, and 10,249 (33.8%) participants reported that they would use a paper towel, handkerchief or sleeve to cover when coughing or sneezing in public. A total of 27,010 respondents (89.2%) never/rarely shared towels or bedding with others, 17,294 participants (57.1%) told their teacher every time they were sick. In addition, 11,266 (37.2%) stated that they had taken time off during the previous semester due to illness.

The mean practices score was 12.16 (SD鈥=鈥2.52), and statistically significant (P鈥<鈥0.05) differences in these scores were observed across all measured demographic factors (Table 3). Furthermore, a significant interaction between knowledge score and school information source on the practice score was identified in model 2 (adjusted for age and gender, Pinteraction=0.004). The association between knowledge level and practice score was much more profound among those who mainly obtained knowledge at school (b鈥=鈥0.11, SE鈥=鈥0.02) than those who obtained their knowledge elsewhere (b鈥=鈥0.07, SE鈥=鈥0.04) (Supplementary Table 3). Results were similar when the dependent variable was converted to practice level (Supplementary Table 4).

Source of information regarding infectious diseases

In Table 2, participants learned about infectious diseases through a variety of sources, such as schools (86.2%), other individuals (e.g., family members/teachers/peers/doctors) (86.5%) and electronic media (73.4%). In addition, the majority of participants reported that they chose to obtain information on infectious diseases through electronic media (83.4%) and public information sources (64.5%).

Associations of preventive practices

In Model 1, gender, age, residence, region, single-child status, living arrangement, parents鈥 age and education level significantly predicted the infectious disease practice of children and adolescents (F鈥=鈥108.50, P鈥&濒迟;鈥0.001; f2鈥=鈥0.07).

Participants鈥 knowledge scores significantly predicted their practices after adjusting for the demographic factors (F鈥=鈥123.02, P鈥&濒迟;鈥0.001, f2鈥=鈥0.09, Table 4). Nearly 7.8% of the variability in the practices can be explained by their knowledge.

Table 4 Factors associated with practices regarding infectious diseases (results of hierarchical regressions models) (N=30,287)

The results of model 3 (adjusting for demographic variables, knowledge scores) showed that schools, electronic media and paper media were the main sources of information about infectious diseases, and these factors could also predict the practices scores (F鈥=鈥113.93, P鈥&濒迟;鈥0.001; f2鈥=鈥0.10). Living with parents (vs. not living with parents; b鈥=鈥0.055, P鈥<鈥0.001), household income of 5000鈥10,000 yuan (vs. Less than 5000 yuan; b鈥=鈥0.024, P鈥<鈥0.001), south region (vs. north; b鈥=鈥0.021, P鈥=鈥0.001), mother鈥檚 age鈥>鈥35 years (vs. 鈮35 years; 35鈥45 years: 尾鈥=鈥0.020, P鈥=鈥0.008; 鈮45 years: b鈥=鈥0.022, P鈥=鈥0.005), father鈥檚 education in high school/ vocational school (vs. junior high school and below; b鈥=鈥0.024, 笔鈥=鈥0.001), and high knowledge score(b鈥=鈥0.102, P鈥<鈥0.001) were positively associated with the infectious disease practice scores. On the contrary, males (vs. females; b=鈭0.030, P鈥<鈥0.001), older (vs. 6鈥8 years;12-14years: b=鈭0.130, P鈥&濒迟;鈥0.001;15-17years: 尾=鈭0.253, P鈥<鈥0.001), rural residence (vs. urban; b=鈭0.023, P鈥=鈥0.001), central region (vs. north; b=鈭0.036, P鈥<鈥0.001), and fathers aged 35鈥45 years (vs. 鈮35 years; b=鈭0.021, P鈥=鈥0.009) were significantly associated with lower infectious disease practice scores (P鈥&濒迟;鈥0.05). Interestingly, children or adolescents who obtained information about infectious diseases through schools, electronic media and paper media tend to score higher on measures to prevent infectious diseases (P鈥&濒迟;鈥0.05).

Discussion

This cross-sectional study examined a total of 30,287 students aged 6鈥17 years from seven provinces across the north, south and central China. The mean total knowledge and practices scores of infectious diseases were 2.53 (range: 0鈥4 points) and 12.16 (range: 0鈥18 points), respectively, indicating that Chinese children and adolescents exhibited a moderate level of knowledge and practice in this regard. A study of primary school students aged 10鈥14 years in Malawi, showed a lower proportion knew TB symptoms, such as night sweats (49%) and swollen lymph nodes in the neck (40%) [21]. Similarly, in our study, only 38.3% students selected the correct symptoms of suspected tuberculosis. Additionally, a cross-sectional survey showed that Southeast Asian Countries(India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand) in-school students (13鈥墌鈥15years old) had sub-optimal hygiene behavior, the proportions of school children reporting 45.2% did not always wash their hands before meals, 26.5% after toileting and 59.8% washing their hands with soap [22].

Our study identified that girls outscoring boys in both knowledge and preventive measures. Previous studies also reported that females exhibit better knowledge levels and disease-prevention measures than males [23, 24]. Females are more likely to participate in health-oriented activities, stronger health awareness and a tendency towards preventive behavior [25, 26]. Interestingly, we also observed that although older children scored displayed higher levels of knowledge, they scored lower in terms of infectious disease prevention. Older adolescents are more likely to engage in risky behaviors [27]. Policy makers and educators should not only pay attention to the health education of students with lower grades and younger ages, but also pay attention to the health education of boys, students of older age groups. We also revealed that for those living together with parents, who live in urban (compared with rural), good family social-economic status level (compared with family monthly income鈥<鈥5000 yuan), south region (vs. north), father鈥檚 education level is higher (compared to junior high school education level and below), their knowledge score of infectious disease is significantly higher, and they also tend to get a higher score for prevention practices. Noticeable regional variation patterns were observed in incidence of the infectious diseases among children and adolescents in China [4]. Not surprisingly, regional disparities raise questions about access to healthcare, educational systems, socioeconomic status, public health programmes, and infrastructure in rural and remote areas. Therefore, differences in educational resources and socioeconomic status of children and adolescents should be taken into account when developing large comprehensive health promotion plan for all children and adolescents. At the same time, the potential role of parental education and parental supervision in knowledge and practice of infectious diseases in children cannot be ignored. There are researches finding that the lack of parental supervision and parental bond was shown to increase the risk of sub-optimal hand hygiene practices [22]. A large body of evidence demonstrated that interventions such as via film, lectures, and the distribution of brochures can change parents鈥 attitudes towards influenza vaccination and promote knowledge of influenza or other diseases [28,29,30]. A Japanese study reported that a higher education level of the father was associated with a lower incidence of varicella, mumps, and influenza, which are covered by voluntarily vaccinated in Japan [31]. Consequently, health education or promotion in a way that parents at all levels of education can understand will help reduce the incident risk of children and adolescents infectious diseases. Besides, high levels of infectious disease related knowledge in children and adolescents can predict better preventative behaviors. Similar results were reported in recent studies, that adolescents who have higher level of knowledge regarding infectious diseases had better hygiene behaviors [32].

It is worth noting that the participants in our study are children and adolescents, who spend most of their time in school and home. In our study, children and adolescents mainly obtain knowledge about infectious diseases from school or other individuals (parents, classmates/friends, doctors). However, we also found that children and adolescents favorite to receive information from electronic media (internet, radio, TV and video). As such, we recommend that health workers use schools as the primary channel for disseminating information about infectious diseases, with electronic and Internet media as the secondary channels. For examples, staff can deliver health education and health promotion about infectious diseases in schools. The government could use television and radio channels to highlight the importance of personal hygiene in the prevention of infectious diseases in order to attract the attention of children and adolescents [33]. More importantly, our study also discovered children and adolescents鈥 exposure to information regarding infectious diseases through school, paper media or electronic media were significantly associated with higher practice scores, especially school and paper media. It has been proven that carrying out infectious disease health education through school is of great significance to further improve students鈥 knowledge and practice level of infectious disease prevention. School-based TB health education increased awareness of TB among high school students [34]. Monthly health education, including cartoons, lectures, handbooks, and the use of brochures and bulletin boards, contributed to improve students鈥 knowledge of and prevention of respiratory infections [35]. The Internet and social networks are the most frequently consulted and favorite sources of information, as well as valuable resources for effectively forming people鈥檚 health knowledge, raising risk awareness and informing preventive measures [36]. Therefore, it is recommended to implement regular health education activities in schools and can consider incorporating mass media to increase students access to knowledge. These efforts aim to guide students towards adopting appropriate behaviors, rectifying unfavorable behaviors, popularizing infectious disease-related health education, and enhancing the knowledge and practice levels of infectious disease prevention among children and adolescents.

Practice implications

At present, few studies have investigated the knowledge and practice related to infectious diseases among children or adolescents especially in China. Our research, which included children and adolescents aged 6鈥17 from 7 provinces in China, providing a strong generalizability and representativeness. Notably, our study identified school as one of the primary source of information about infectious diseases, emphasizing the importance of school-based education on infectious diseases and prevention practices.

Limitations

Despite the significant implications of this paper, several limitations should be noted. Firstly, this is a cross-sectional study, which may limit the explanation of causal relationships between variables, and more cohort studies are needed in the future. Secondly, all the measures were self-reported which might lead to recall bias, self-perception bias, and social desirability effects. During the process of excluding missing data, more boys were excluded than girls, which may lead to some potential bias.Our study focused on children and adolescents in China, the generalization of our findings to other population is limited. Furthermore, potential psychosocial, social and environmental correlates of preventive practice (e.g., attitude, self-efficacy, parental support) were not considered in the study, which warranted further research in the future.

Conclusions

In conclusion, our findings indicate that children and adolescents aged 6鈥17 in seven provinces showed moderate level of knowledge and practices against infectious diseases. Gender, age, whether they living with their parents, residence, family monthly income, parents鈥 age, father鈥檚 education level and knowledge level of infectious diseases can predict the scores of infectious disease prevention measures in children and adolescents. It is recommended that parents should be more involved in health education for children and adolescents. Targeted measures are also needed to raise awareness and prevent infectious diseases among vulnerable groups. Additionally, this study also demonstrated that children who acquired knowledge about infectious diseases through school, electronic media and paper media were significantly associated with higher scores for infectious disease prevention measures. Therefore, strengthening the dissemination of knowledge and practice related to infectious diseases among children and adolescents through schools, electronic media and paper media can be an effective strategy to promote health education.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. WHO. Communicable diseases among children. 2022.

  2. Fauci AS, Touchette NA, Folkers GK. Emerging infectious diseases: a 10-year perspective from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11(4):519鈥25.

    听 听 听 听

  3. Bloom DE, Cadarette D. Infectious disease threats in the twenty-first century: strengthening the global response. Front Immunol. 2019;10:549.

    听 听 听 听

  4. Dong Y, Wang L, Burgner DP, Miller JE, Song Y, Ren X, Li Z, Xing Y, Ma J, Sawyer SM, Patton GC. Infectious diseases in children and adolescents in China: analysis of national surveillance data from 2008 to 2017. BMJ. 2020;369:m1043.

    听 听 听 听

  5. Wang CC, Prather KA, Sznitman J, Jimenez JL, Lakdawala SS, Tufekci Z, Marr LC. Airborne transmission of respiratory viruses. Science. 2021;373(6558).

  6. Keane E, Funk AL, Shimakawa Y. Systematic review with meta-analysis: the risk of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus infection in sub-saharan Africa. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2016;44(10):1005鈥17.

    CAS听 听 听

  7. Wang L, Wang Y, Jin S, Wu Z, Chin DP, Koplan JP, Wilson ME. Emergence and control of infectious diseases in China. Lancet. 2008;372(9649):1598鈥605.

    听 听 听 听

  8. Golberstein E, Wen H, Miller BF. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for children and adolescents. JAMA Pediatr. 2020;174(9):819鈥20.

    听 听 听

  9. Mukherjee S. Emerging infectious diseases: epidemiological perspective. Indian J Dermatol. 2017;62(5):459鈥67.

    听 听 听 听

  10. Wang M, Han X, Fang H, Xu C, Lin X, Xia S, Yu W, He J, Jiang S, Tao H. Impact of health education on knowledge and behaviors toward infectious diseases among students in Gansu Province, China. Biomed Res Int. 2018;2018:6397340.

    听 听 听

  11. Li F, Liang W, Rhodes RE, Duan Y, Wang X, Shang B, Yang Y, Jiao J, Yang M, Supriya R, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis on the preventive behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic among children and adolescents. 成人头条. 2022;22(1):1201.

    CAS听 听 听 听

  12. Xue Q, Xie X, Liu Q, Zhou Y, Zhu K, Wu H, Wan Z, Feng Y, Meng H, Zhang J, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among primary school students in Hubei Province, China. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021;120:105735.

    听 听 听

  13. Wong CA, Merchant RM, Moreno MA. Using social media to engage adolescents and young adults with their health. Healthc (Amst). 2014;2(4):220鈥4.

    听 听 听

  14. Gao X, Wu Y, Zhang Y, Zhang N, Tang J, Qiu J, Lin X, Du Y. Effectiveness of school-based education on HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, and behavior among secondary school students in Wuhan, China. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(9):e44881.

    CAS听 听 听 听

  15. Bussing R, Zima BT, Mason DM, Meyer JM, White K, Garvan CW. ADHD knowledge, perceptions, and information sources: perspectives from a community sample of adolescents and their parents. J Adolesc Health. 2012;51(6):593鈥600.

    听 听 听 听

  16. Baker I, Marzouqa N, Yaghi BN, Adawi SO, Yousef S, Sabooh TN, Salhab NM, Khrishi HM, Qabaja Y, Riad A, et al. The impact of information sources on COVID-19-Related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among University students: a nationwide cross-sectional study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(23):12462.

    CAS听 听 听 听

  17. Ali SH, Foreman J, Tozan Y, Capasso A, Jones AM, DiClemente RJ. Trends and predictors of COVID-19 information sources and their relationship with knowledge and beliefs related to the pandemic: Nationwide Cross-sectional Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020;6(4):e21071.

    听 听 听 听

  18. Anfaara FW, Atuoye KN, Antabe R, Sano Y, Luginaah I. Hepatitis B knowledge among women and men in the upper west region of Ghana: what sources of health information matter? Int J Health Plann Manage. 2020;35(5):1098鈥110.

    听 听 听

  19. Bhaskaran K, Dos-Santos-Silva I, Leon DA, Douglas IJ, Smeeth L. Association of BMI with overall and cause-specific mortality: a population-based cohort study of 3路6 million adults in the UK. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2018;6(12):944鈥53.

    听 听 听 听

  20. Selya AS, Rose JS, Dierker LC, Hedeker D, Mermelstein RJ. A practical guide to calculating Cohen鈥檚 f(2), a measure of local effect size, from PROC MIXED. Front Psychol. 2012;3:111.

    听 听 听 听

  21. Nyasulu P, Kambale S, Chirwa T, Umanah T, Singini I, Sikwese S, Banda HT, Banda RP, Chimbali H, Ngwira B, Munthali A. Knowledge and perception about tuberculosis among children attending primary school in Ntcheu District, Malawi. J Multidiscip Healthc. 2016;9:121鈥31.

    听 听 听 听

  22. Peltzer K, Pengpid S. Oral and hand hygiene behaviour and risk factors among in-school adolescents in four southeast Asian countries. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014;11(3):2780鈥92.

    听 听 听 听

  23. Suen LKP, So ZYY, Yeung SKW, Lo KYK, Lam SC. Epidemiological investigation on hand hygiene knowledge and behaviour: a cross-sectional study on gender disparity. 成人头条. 2019;19(1):401.

    听 听 听 听

  24. Anderson JL, Warren CA, Perez E, Louis RI, Phillips S, Wheeler J, Cole M, Misra R. Gender and ethnic differences in hand hygiene practices among college students. Am J Infect Control. 2008;36(5):361鈥8.

    听 听 听

  25. Hiller J, Schatz K, Drexler H. Gender influence on health and risk behavior in primary prevention: a systematic review. Z Gesundh Wiss. 2017;25(4):339鈥49.

    听 听 听 听

  26. Johnson HD, Sholcosky D, Gabello K, Ragni R, Ogonosky N. Sex differences in public restroom handwashing behavior associated with visual behavior prompts. Percept Mot Skills. 2003;97(3 Pt 1):805鈥10.

    听 听 听

  27. Tymula A, Rosenberg Belmaker LA, Roy AK, Ruderman L, Manson K, Glimcher PW, Levy I. Adolescents鈥 risk-taking behavior is driven by tolerance to ambiguity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012;109(42):17135鈥40.

    CAS听 听 听 听

  28. Awad S, Abdo N, Yusef D, Jawarneh A, Babaa A, Alwady D, Al-Bawayeh H, Kasrawi I, Amaireh M, Obeidat M, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices related to influenza illness and vaccination in children: role of awareness campaigns in changing parents鈥 attitudes toward influenza vaccination in Jordan. Vaccine. 2019;37(25):3303鈥9.

    听 听 听

  29. Kaufman J, Ryan R, Walsh L, Horey D, Leask J, Robinson P, Hill S. Face-to-face interventions for informing or educating parents about early childhood vaccination. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;5(5):Cd010038.

    听 听

  30. Songol A, Amiri-Farahani L, Haghani S, Pezaro S, Omrani Saravi S. Comparing the effect of parental education via both lecture and film upon vaccination uptake for children under one year of age: a cluster randomized clinical trial. Vaccine. 2023;41(5):1067鈥73.

    听 听 听

  31. Narita M, Yamamoto M, Sakurai K, Mori C. Associations of parental education with children鈥檚 infectious diseases and their mediating factors: the Japan Environment and Children鈥檚 Study (JECS). J Epidemiol. 2024. Accepted article.

  32. Oosterhoff B, Palmer CA, Wilson J, Shook N. Adolescents鈥 motivations to engage in social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic: associations with mental and social health. J Adolesc Health. 2020;67(2):179鈥85.

    听 听 听 听

  33. Bieri FA, Gray DJ, Raso G, Li YS, McManus DP. A systematic review of preventive health educational videos targeting infectious diseases in schoolchildren. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2012;87(6):972鈥8.

    听 听 听 听

  34. Hatzenbuehler LA, Starke JR, Smith EO, Turner TL, Balmer DF, Arif Z, Guzman F, Cruz AT. Increased adolescent knowledge and behavior following a one-time educational intervention about tuberculosis. Patient Educ Couns. 2017;100(5):950鈥6.

    听 听 听

  35. Wang M, Fang H. The effect of health education on knowledge and behavior toward respiratory infectious diseases among students in Gansu, China: a quasi-natural experiment. 成人头条. 2020;20(1):681.

    听 听 听 听

  36. Carducci A, Fiore M, Azara A, Bonaccorsi G, Bortoletto M, Caggiano G, Calamusa A, De Donno A, De Giglio O, Dettori M, et al. Environment and health: risk perception and its determinants among Italian university students. Sci Total Environ. 2019;691:1162鈥72.

    CAS听 听 听

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support from all the team members, the participating students, teachers, parents and local education and health staffs in this program.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 81903336 & 82103865), the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 2019JJ50376), Scientific Research Project of Hunan Provincial Health Commission (grant numbers 202112031516), and Research Special Fund for Public Welfare of Health (grant numbers 201202010). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, writing of this article or interpreting the results.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Y.Z., Y.D.Y., F.F.L. and W.L. conceptualized and designed the study, carried out the data analysis, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Y.Y.L. and J.H. assisted with the data processing, statistical analyses and the interpretation of results; Y.D. Y, Y.Z.Z, H.Y.D. and B.D. supervised the data collection, the statistical analyses and initial drafting of the manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; J.M. coordinated and supervised data collection, and critically reviewed the manuscript. J.S.B. and W.L. polished the language, reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript. Y.Z., F.F.L. and WL shared the first authorship. B.D. and Y.D.Y shared the correspondence.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yide Yang or Bin Dong.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study adhered to the STROBE guidelines, and received approval from the Medical Ethics Committee of Peking University Health Science Center (No.IRB0000105213034).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher鈥檚 Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article鈥檚 Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article鈥檚 Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit .

About this article

Cite this article

Zeng, Y., Li, F., Liang, W. et al. Knowledge, practice, and information sources regarding infectious diseases among Chinese children and adolescents: a National-Level cross-sectional study. 成人头条 25, 412 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21516-x

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-21516-x

Keywords