Effectiveness of short massage service intervention on knowledge about major infectious disease prevention among rural migrant workers

Objective To investigate the status of knowledge and behaviors about prevention and control of major infectious disease and to assess the effect of mobile short massage service (SMS) intervention on the knowledge and behavior among rural migrant workers in Sichuan province.Methods A SMS intervention on prevention and control of hepatitis B,tuberculosis,and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(HIV/AIDS)were conducted among 581 rural migrant workers who returned home during the Spring Festival from January 2013 through December 2014 in 3 counties and 2 districts of Sichuan province.A self-designed questionnaire was self-administered by the participants before and by the end of the intervention.Results The knowledge rate and the formation rate of health behavior about major infectious diseases increased significantly among the participants of the intervention (P<0.05 for all).The overall knowledge rate about the major infectious diseases increased by 18.5% (from 50.8% to 69.3%) and the overall formation rate of infectious disease prevention-related behavior increased by 17.4% (from 47.9% to 65.3%) by the end of the intervention,but the knowledge rate about condom use was still very low (17.1%) among the participants.Conclusion Mobil SMS intervention could effectively increase the rate of knowledge and behavior formation about major infectious diseases among rural migrant workers.