Understanding KAP regarding influenza is necessary to prepare travelers for future pandemics and for the management of seasonal influenza as well. The survey was conducted from June through September 2008 among travelers to Asia at the departure
lounges of four international airports in the United States; pre- and post-travel questionnaires were designed to compare travelers’ knowledge of influenza prevention measures to their behavior during travel and assess how they would manage their illness if they became ill. The pre-travel component included questions about demographics, itinerary, purpose of travel, planned activities, influenza vaccination status, potential barriers to vaccination, and knowledge about influenza modes of transmission, Autophagy inhibitor as well as preventive measures to be taken during travel. The post-travel component included questions about destination, duration of travel, trip activities, illness during travel, symptoms, and risk factors for avian influenza transmission. The post-travel survey was conducted among those
who participated in the pre-travel survey and completed the post-travel survey after returning from Asia. Since persons who received influenza vaccine are likely to be aware of other influenza prevention measures, we used the US 2007 seasonal influenza vaccination survey data, which indicated that 40% this website of respondents had received the influenza vaccine (CDC Internal Report: Seasonal Influenza Survey—American Institute for Research, May 2007), as a proxy to estimate the study sample size. A sample of 1,024 travelers to Asia was chosen to achieve sufficient power to estimate the KAP of travelers regarding influenza prevention measures, with a precision of 40% ± 3% and 95% level of confidence. Based on Department of Commerce estimates of airports with the most US travelers to Asia,2 we targeted John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), O’Hare International Vasopressin Receptor Airport (ORD), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The survey
data were collected among a convenience sample of the travelers waiting at the boarding areas of 38 flights during the 2 hours prior to their departure. Asian countries with direct, nonstop commercial flights from the United States included China (n = 8), Hong Kong (n = 4), Japan (n = 10), India (n = 7), South Korea (n = 4), Thailand (n = 3), and Singapore (n = 2). Eligible survey participants were ≥18 years of age, had lived in the United States for >6 months, and could read English. Only one survey was collected per traveling family. Passengers waiting at the first-class lounge/club or those who arrived shortly before boarding were therefore not included in the survey. Data were entered into a database and analyzed using SAS software version 9.1.