Primary care physicians’ response to pandemic influenza in Hong Kong: a mixed quantitative and qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: The current study was conducted to use a developed framework to appraise the public primary care response to pandemic 2009 influenza A H1N1 virus in Hong Kong in 2009. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 300 doctors working in public primary care clinics. In addition, a qualitative study was conducted in two selected general outpatient clinics (GOPCs) with 10 doctors between September and December 2009. RESULTS: We found that there was an increase in clinical service demand for public primary care doctors and that there was lower compliance with hand washing as compared to the wearing of masks among GOPC doctors during the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Since hand hygiene and influenza vaccination are effective methods to prevent the spread of influenza infection, future studies should explore the reasons for non-compliance with these preventive behaviors among doctors. More education and training in dealing with influenza A H1N1 infection may be needed.