Adoption of Safety Measures against COVID-19 by Tribal Families in Southern Rajasthan- A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic during early 2020 forced the people to make drastic changes in their lifestyle. The people’s response to preventive measures initiated by the Government to control COVID-19 is the focus of the study. Aim: To assess the knowledge for prevention and adoption of safety measures against COVID-19 by the tribal masses. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study, covering 300 selected tribal families, was conducted in a tribal belt during the period September 2020 to December 2020. The questionnaire covered socio-demographic profile, knowledge aspects and adoption pattern regarding preventive measures of COVID-19. The head of the family or in his/her absence any available adult family member has been the respondent to provide the required information. Based on maximum score of 15 for correct knowledge, the families were categorised as poor (≤5), average (6-10) and good (11-15). With a maximum score of 24 for correct adoption, the categorisation was made as poor (≤8), average (9-16) and good (17-24). The association of socio-demographic factors with knowledge and practice level was tested through Chi-square test and correlation coefficient between knowledge and adoption scores. Results: Among the 300 families studied, the nuclear type tribal families dominated in the study area 204 (68%) and the average age of respondents was 61 years. The mean knowledge score was 7.6 (50.67%) and adoption score was 11.22 (46.75%). The percentage shares of respondents in poor, average and good categories were 31.33%, 35.33% and 33.33% for knowledge and 32.66%, 34.66% and 32.66%, respectively for adoption scores. The education level, income of the family and access to media sources were found to have significant association between knowledge and adoption scores. Conclusion: The highest education level of family members, family income and access to media sources were significantly associated with knowledge as well as practice. The positive correlation between knowledge and adoption scores indicated that the adoption level can be improved by enhancing knowledge to the socially backwards tribal communities. Socially visible practices like mask wearing were well adopted by tribals whereas the adoption level of invisible components like immunity building was relatively low.