BackgroundPoultry farmers are at high-risk from avian influenza A/H7N9 infection due to sustained occupational exposures to live poultry. This study examined factors associated with poultry farmers’ adoption of personal protective behaviours (PPBs) based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT).MethodsTotally, 297 poultry farmers in three cities of Jiangsu Province, China were interviewed during November 2013-January 2014. Data on PMT constructs, perceived trustworthiness of A/H7N9 information from mass media (formal sources), friends and family (informal sources), intention to adopt and actual adoption of PPBs and respondents’ demographics were collected. Structural equation modeling (SEM) identified associations between demographic factors and PMT constructs associated with A/H7N9-oriented PPB intention. Moderated mediation analysis examined how demographics moderated the effects of information trust on PPB intention via risk perceptions of A/H7N9.ResultsRespondents generally perceived low vulnerability to A/H7N9 infection. The SEM found that male respondents perceived lower severity of (β = −0.23), and lower vulnerability to (β = -0.15) A/H7N9 infection; age was positively associated with both perceived personal vulnerability to (β = 0.21) and perceived self-efficacy (β = 0.24) in controlling A/H7N9; education was positively associated with perceived response efficacy (β = 0.40). Furthermore, perceived vulnerability (β = 0.16), perceived self-efficacy (β = 0.21) and response efficacy (β = 0.67) were positively associated with intention to adopt PPBs against A/H7N9. More trust in informal information (TII) was only significantly associated with greater PPB intention through its positive association with perceived response efficacy. Age significantly moderated the associations of TII with perceived Self-efficacy and perceived response efficacy, with younger farmers who had greater TII perceiving lower self-efficacy but higher response efficacy.ConclusionPoultry farmers perceive A/H7N9 as a personally-irrelevant risk. Interventions designed to enhance perceived response efficacy, particularly among lower educated respondents may effectively motivate adoption of PPBs. Informal information may be an important resource for enhancing response efficacy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4364-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Poultry farmers faced dual risk when mutant avian influenza (AI) virus showed the zoonotic characteristics. A/H5N1 and A/H7N9 were two dominant AI virus strains that have captured the attention of the public over the years for they have been reported to bring about greater loss to poultry and human, respectively. Previous studies mainly used quantitative methods investigating either the means that poultry farmers adopted for protecting their poultry against A/H5N1 infection or the poultry farmers' self‐protective behaviours against A/H7N9 infection. We sought insights into the underlying factors influencing Chinese poultry farmers' protective behaviours in response to the dual risk of AI by a qualitative way. Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews were conducted with 25 Chinese chicken farmers recruited by purposive sampling between November 2016 and May 2017, the peak season of AI. All interviews were audio‐taped, transcribed and analysed using a grounded theory approach. From participants' experiences, we revealed five main themes: Measures adopted for protecting poultry and farmers, Emotional response to the AI epidemic, Perceived risk of AI, Perceived effectiveness of the preventive measures adopted and Perceived self‐efficacy to take preventive measures. The information of AI outbreak directly triggered Chinese chicken farmers' emotional response and thereafter preventive actions. Compared to the perceived risk of poultry infection with A/H5N1 which mainly connected to economic loss, participants perceived much lower risk of human infection with A/H7N9. AI epidemic information played a key role triggering poultry farmers' response behaviours. Chinese poultry farmers weighted more attention on the risk of poultry infection which was highly associated with economic losses. The government should build and improve an early AI warning and information transmission network to poultry farmers. Further reinforcement of related self‐protective and preventive knowledge training towards poultry farmers is necessary.
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