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Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study

This study assessed Australian Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge, attitude and practices throughout their Hajj journey to understand their health behaviors, use of preventative measures and development of illness symptoms. A prospective cohort study with data collection at three phases (before, during and af...

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Autores principales: Alqahtani, Amani Salem, Tashani, Mohamed, Heywood, Anita Elizabeth, Almohammed, Abdulrahman Bader S., Booy, Robert, Wiley, Kerrie Elizabeth, Rashid, Harunor
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7355622/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32375320
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy8020078
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author Alqahtani, Amani Salem
Tashani, Mohamed
Heywood, Anita Elizabeth
Almohammed, Abdulrahman Bader S.
Booy, Robert
Wiley, Kerrie Elizabeth
Rashid, Harunor
author_facet Alqahtani, Amani Salem
Tashani, Mohamed
Heywood, Anita Elizabeth
Almohammed, Abdulrahman Bader S.
Booy, Robert
Wiley, Kerrie Elizabeth
Rashid, Harunor
author_sort Alqahtani, Amani Salem
collection PubMed
description This study assessed Australian Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge, attitude and practices throughout their Hajj journey to understand their health behaviors, use of preventative measures and development of illness symptoms. A prospective cohort study with data collection at three phases (before, during and after Hajj) was conducted among Australian pilgrims between August and December 2015. Baseline data were collected from 421 pilgrims before Hajj, with 391 providing follow-up data during Hajj and 300 after their home return. Most participants (78% [329/421]) received one or more recommended vaccines; travel agents’ advice was the main factor affecting vaccination uptake. Most participants (69% [270/391]) practiced hand hygiene with soap and sanitizers frequently, followed by disposable handkerchief use (36% [139/391]) and washing hands with water only (28% [111/391]). During Hajj 74% (288/391) of participants reported one or more illness symptoms, 86% (248/288) of these symptoms were respiratory. Cough was less often reported among pilgrims who received vaccinations, cleaned their hands with soap or alcoholic hand rubs, while a runny nose was less common among those who frequently washed their hands with plain water but was more common among those who used facemasks. This study reveals that most Australian Hajj pilgrims complied with key preventative measures, and that tour group operators’ advice played an important role in compliance. Pilgrims who were vaccinated and practiced hand hygiene were less likely to report infection symptoms.
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spelling pubmed-73556222020-07-23 Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study Alqahtani, Amani Salem Tashani, Mohamed Heywood, Anita Elizabeth Almohammed, Abdulrahman Bader S. Booy, Robert Wiley, Kerrie Elizabeth Rashid, Harunor Pharmacy (Basel) Article This study assessed Australian Hajj pilgrims’ knowledge, attitude and practices throughout their Hajj journey to understand their health behaviors, use of preventative measures and development of illness symptoms. A prospective cohort study with data collection at three phases (before, during and after Hajj) was conducted among Australian pilgrims between August and December 2015. Baseline data were collected from 421 pilgrims before Hajj, with 391 providing follow-up data during Hajj and 300 after their home return. Most participants (78% [329/421]) received one or more recommended vaccines; travel agents’ advice was the main factor affecting vaccination uptake. Most participants (69% [270/391]) practiced hand hygiene with soap and sanitizers frequently, followed by disposable handkerchief use (36% [139/391]) and washing hands with water only (28% [111/391]). During Hajj 74% (288/391) of participants reported one or more illness symptoms, 86% (248/288) of these symptoms were respiratory. Cough was less often reported among pilgrims who received vaccinations, cleaned their hands with soap or alcoholic hand rubs, while a runny nose was less common among those who frequently washed their hands with plain water but was more common among those who used facemasks. This study reveals that most Australian Hajj pilgrims complied with key preventative measures, and that tour group operators’ advice played an important role in compliance. Pilgrims who were vaccinated and practiced hand hygiene were less likely to report infection symptoms. MDPI 2020-05-04 /pmc/articles/PMC7355622/ /pubmed/32375320 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy8020078 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Alqahtani, Amani Salem
Tashani, Mohamed
Heywood, Anita Elizabeth
Almohammed, Abdulrahman Bader S.
Booy, Robert
Wiley, Kerrie Elizabeth
Rashid, Harunor
Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study
title Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study
title_full Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study
title_fullStr Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study
title_full_unstemmed Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study
title_short Tracking Australian Hajj Pilgrims’ Health Behavior before, during and after Hajj, and the Effective Use of Preventive Measures in Reducing Hajj-Related Illness: A Cohort Study
title_sort tracking australian hajj pilgrims’ health behavior before, during and after hajj, and the effective use of preventive measures in reducing hajj-related illness: a cohort study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7355622/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32375320
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy8020078
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