Analysis of COVID-19 Prevention Practices on Health Care Workers in Three Hospitals in Palembang

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global concern. In this case, Health Care Workers (HCW) are at the front lines in dealing with the pandemic as they provide diagnosis, care, and treatment. However, their duties have directly placed them at the most at risk of infection. Mitigation and risk reduction are crucial for safeguarding HCWs' health as it prevents the spread of COVID-19. This research aimed to find out the practice of COVID-19 prevention and the correlation among practice and knowledge, attitudes, and personality traits of HCW in Palembang. A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and July 2021 on 255 HCW who have direct contact with patients. The number of respondents per hospital is taken proportionally according to the portion of HCW in each selected hospital. The instrument consisted of demographic variables, knowledge, attitudes, and practices. It proves that it is reliable with Cronbach's alpha value of 0.7. The researchers used descriptive statistics, chi-square, and logistic regression. Overall, 65.2% of participants had good knowledge, 60% had a positive attitude, and 53.3% had good practice. Education (p-value 0.022) and attitude (p-value 0.000) of HCW were all influencing factor in practice. HCW who have a negative attitude are 5.413 times more to have bad practices than those who have a positive attitude (p-value<0.001;PR=5.413). However, training for HCW and further research are recommended to analyze the availability of personal protective equipment, adequate facilities, hospital policies, or other factors that can influence and motivate the practice of HCW.