Abstract
The current study included a sample of 159 nurses from the American University of Beirut's Medical Center (AUB-M.C), the St. Georges Hospital, and the Sacré Coeur Hospital in Lebanon. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and behavioral toward "Mad Cow Disease" (MCD) among these nurses. Nurses completed self-administered anonymous survey. The results of the study showed generally that nurses were not very knowledgeable about MCD. However, a high percentage of nurses answered questions related to the following categories: concentration of agent in the central nervous system (96%), fatality (86%) of the disease, causative agent (70%), similarity between new variant of Creutzfelt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (67%), treatment (65%), and existence of diagnostic test (64%). On the other hand, less than one-half of the participants reported the correct answers to: early symptoms (26%), possibility of transmission among humans (36%), contracting disease from gelatin (40%), and the number of reported cases worldwide (21%).
Age and hospital had no significant impact on the level of knowledge about MCD. Regarding sources of information about MCD, Nurses who used the Internet or WHO as a source of knowledge were significantly more knowledgeable than those who did not. But nurses who used the Ministry of Public Health as a source of information were significantly less knowledgeable than those who did not. The majority of nurses were concerned about the disease. In fact, 51 % considered themselves at risk of contracting MCD and 60% believed that the chance of acquiring the disease through the consumption of contaminated food products is high. In response to this concern, 81% decreased or completely stopped their consumption of beef. Age, level of knowledge, and attitudes were not determinants of changes in nutritional behavior.
The results obtained from the current study shed light on the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of nurses in the Greater Beirut area toward MCD.