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BackgroundLimited studies are available on health behavior knowledge among the elderly and the interaction between the elderly and their children living with them. Using a survey of the elderly in the community and their children living with them, we explored the characteristics that determine health behavior knowledge. We also identified the influencing factors affecting such knowledge. The relationship between the health behavior knowledge of the elderly and that of their children was also investigated.MethodsA total of 1207 elderly people were selected by multistage probability sampling (number of children of the elderly = 201). We used a self-designed behavior knowledge questionnaire (38 questions) to survey the participants. After the 38 questions were answered, the total score was determined. The group with adequate health behavior knowledge (score ≥ 24) and that with inadequate knowledge (score < 24) were distinguished by logistic regression to explain the influencing factors affecting health knowledge.ResultsOn the basis of the responses to 38 questions in the survey, approximately 46.7% of elderly people were identified as having a good knowledge of health. Knowledge of the proper amount of certain foods and liquids as well as that of psychological disorder among the elderly recorded a low percentage at < 60%. Factors related to health behavior knowledge among the elderly were as follows educational attainment, past occupation, and location of residence. Participants who finished high school or higher had 6, 4, and 3 times greater odds of possessing adequate health knowledge than those who attained below primary school, primary school, and junior high school levels, respectively. Those with experience as administrative and technical personnel, workers, migrant workers, and farmers had 2.5, 2.3, 3.9, and 2.1 times greater odds of possessing adequate health knowledge, respectively, than those who were unemployed. Respondents living in the city had 3.7 times greater odds of possessing adequate health knowledge than those living in the countryside. In the stem family, the health knowledge of the elderly was significantly lower than that of their children (P < 0.001). However, the influence of their children’s knowledge upper their elder’s was relatively weak.ConclusionThe need to improve health behavior knowledge among the Chinese elderly remains high. Medical personnel in the community should provide health education related to proper diet and alcohol intake, as well as psychological health, particularly for those elderly who only reached primary school and below, used to be unemployed, and are living in rural areas. Children of stem families should be guided to enhance their health education and contribute to the health knowledge of their elderly parents.

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate community residents' awareness of basic life support (BLS) and their willingness to attempt rescue. Methods: From October to December 2020, in the communities of Nantong City, a stratified three-stage random sampling method was adopted to select residents from 12 neighborhood committees over the age of 18 with whom to conduct a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. A self-designed questionnaire was adopted, the contents of which included the general situation of the respondent, knowledge, attitude, and behavior in relation to BLS; the Cronbach's α coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.719. Results: A total of 3000 questionnaires were distributed, of which 2812 were valid, with a valid response rate of 93.73%. Of the 2812 respondents, 41.18% had seen an automatic external defibrillator (AED), 48.83% had experience of' cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and 25.07% of the respondents had experience of' AEDs. When an accident occurred, 50.50% of residents were willing to attempt rescue, 70.80% were willing to attempt rescue under professional guidance, and 71.23% were willing to attempt rescue after learning BLS techniques. Of the residents who were unwilling to attempt rescue, 32.75% were worried about their lack of ability, 27.91% were concerned about legal issues, 14.01% feared infectious diseases, and 10.35% were unwilling to perform mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration. Age, occupation, education level, and whether they had participated in first aid training were the influencing factors. Conclusion: Residents in Nantong have less knowledge of BLS, and their knowledge of CPR is better than that of AEDs. Residents have a strong willingness to learn BLS. Measures need to be taken to improve their understanding of BLS and their application skills. Residents have high levels of willingness to attempt rescue, but a certain percentage of residents have concerns. Interventions can be made to target the different reasons.

Objective: Wearing face masks is believed to mitigate COVID-19 virus transmission by filtering respiratory droplets. This study was to explore the factors influencing wearing face masks in public in China during COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This study was a qualitative semi-structured interview research design and was guided by the Protection Motivation Theory. Participants from Jiangxi Province China were interviewed via WeChat video call. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Recruitment efforts were suspended when 21 participants (aged 23 to 72) were successfully enrolled and the data reached thematic saturation. Four themes were identified when participants described factors influencing them to wear face masks: knowledge of disease (subthemes were severity of disease, and individual vulnerability to disease), environmental facilitators and constraints (subthemes were government recommendations, public opinion, and affordability and availability of face masks), understanding of protection effectiveness (subthemes were protection effectiveness of wearing face masks, and selection of protective measures), and past experiences. Conclusions: Individuals’ decision to wear face masks was influenced by the combination of factors identified. Identification of these factors provides guidance for explaining wearing face masks in public and helps policy makers develop feasible recommendations for wearing face masks during COVID-19 outbreak.