The World Health Organization has declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern twice. In China, public health professionals (PHPs) involved in infectious disease prevention and control are responsible for mpox control, case reporting, and health communications during outbreaks. This study aimed to assess mpox knowledge and factors associated with sufficient mpox knowledge among PHPs in China. This study analyzed PHPs involved in infectious disease prevention and control from a large-scale online cross-sectional survey of healthcare workers conducted through a nationwide platform. An e-questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic and institutional characteristics, attention to mpox, mpox information sources, training history and 37 mpox knowledge items covering etiology, clinical features, transmission, and prevention. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with sufficient mpox knowledge. A total of 1,601 PHPs from 28 of 31 provincial-level regions in China completed the survey, and 1,568 valid responses were included. Among the 1,568 PHPs, 91.3% (1,432/1,568) were aware of mpox, and 61.7% (967/1,568, 95% CI: 59.3%–64.1%) had sufficient mpox knowledge. 44.6% (95% CI: 42.1%–47.0%), 74.2% (95% CI : 72.1%–76.4%) and 47.0% (95% CI: 44.5%–49.5%) PHPs aware of mpox had sufficient knowledge regarding etiology, clinical features and transmission and prevention, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the associated factors with sufficient mpox knowledge included gender (female: OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.03–1.74), professional title (intermediate: OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.40–2.45, senior: OR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.44–2.91), institution (CDC: OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.60–2.67), attention toward mpox (occasional: OR = 2.59, 95% CI: 1.72–3.90; daily/frequent: OR = 3.70, 95% CI: 2.39–5.73), mpox information sources (two sources: OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.14-2.00; three or more sources: OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.31–2.39), and training (OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.89–3.15). This study found insufficient mpox knowledge among the surveyed PHPs involved in infectious disease prevention and control across multiple regions of China, especially among males, those with junior professional titles, limited information access, low attention to mpox, no prior training, and hospital-based staff. Targeted training, continuing education, and multi-channel information dissemination should be strengthened to support mpox preparedness among frontline PHPs.
Hua et al. (Wed,) studied this question.