Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes, and Self-Reported Practices Among Medical Staff in China Before, During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose

To compare food safety knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices among medical staff in China before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Patients and Methods

The questionnaire was anonymous. All respondents were Chinese medical personnel. A Chi-square contingency table was used to compare the knowledge and attitudes of Chinese medical staff before, during and after COVID-19. R statistical software (v4.0.0) was used for analysis.

Results

A total of 1431 valid responses (57.3% from female respondents) were included in our analysis. Medical professionals were geographically distributed as follows: eastern China, 55.5%; central China, 19.7%; western China, 24.1%; Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan, 0.05%. Medical professionals reported that they paid greater attention to food safety after the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the epidemic. Self-reported knowledge of and attitudes toward food safety among medical staff were significantly different before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic (both P<0.001).

Conclusion

After the COVID-19 pandemic, medical professionals paid increasing attention to food safety, which is a clinically important change. Because medical professionals can influence public understanding of food safety, their increased attention to this subject may enable them to promote food safety knowledge more actively in their work. This may in turn promote a better understanding of food safety and protect the health of the general public.

Keywords:

• food safety
• medical staff
• COVID-19
• questionnaire

Data Sharing Statement

All the data and materials mentioned in the manuscript are available.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

Information about the purpose of the study, nature of voluntary participation, and risks associated with participation are presented in the information section of the survey. This study was approved by the ethics committee of Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Throughout the study, the information was kept confidential, and anonymous data were recorded. This study was carried out according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the medical staff all over the world who are fighting on the front lines against COVID-19. The work was supported by the Key medical disciplines of Hangzhou.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Hangzhou Science and Technology Bureau fund (No. 20150733Q24; No. 20191203B96; No. 20191203B105; No. 20171334M01); Youth Fund of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences (No. 2019Y009); Medical and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province (No. 2020362651, No. 2021KY890); Clinical Research Fund of Zhejiang Medical Association (No. 2020ZYC-A13); Hangzhou Health and Family Planning Technology Plan Key Projects (No.2017ZD02). Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Scientific Research Fund Project (No.2022ZB280).