Role of household factors in parental attitudes to pandemic influenza-related school closure in Japan: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: To investigate how household background factors affect parental behavior during pandemic influenza-related school closures, we determined associations between such factors and three parental attitudes: “caring for the child”, “taking leave from work”, and “permitting out-of-home activities”. METHODS: A hypothetical pandemic influenza situation was presented and a questionnaire survey among households of 2146 schoolchildren from 6 schools was conducted. Odds ratios of background factors were estimated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. RESULTS: Responses pertaining to 1510 children indicated that junior high school (OR = 0.11), both parents working (OR = 0.03), and family including grandparent(s) or other relatives (OR = 7.50) were factors associated with “caring for the child”, and elementary school (OR = 2.28), special education school (OR = 3.18), and both parents working (OR = 5.74) were associated with “taking leave from work”. Having an older sibling (OR = 0.74) and awareness of the technical term for school closure (OR = 0.73) were factors associated with “permitting out-of-home activities”. CONCLUSION: Not only work status but also other household factors may be associated with parental behaviors during pandemic influenza-related school closures.