Abstract
COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic, for which appropriate infection prevention and control measures need to be adopted. Healthcare workers' adherence to prevention and control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. In this study, we assessed the KAP among healthcare workers towards the COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic. A self-developed piloted KAP questionnaire was administered to the recruited healthcare workers involved in the COVID-19 response at the Universal College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UCMSTH), in Bhairahawa, Nepal. The knowledge questionnaire consisted of questions regarding the clinical characteristics, prevention, and management of COVID-19. Assessment on attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 included questions on behaviour and change in practices made towards COVID-19 response. Knowledge scores were calculated and compared by demographic characteristics and their attitude and practices towards COVID-19. Data were analysed using bivariate statistics. A total of 103 healthcare workers participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 28.24±6.11 years (range: 20-56); 60.2% were females; 61.2% were unmarried; 60.2% had a medical degree, and 39.8% were the nursing staff. The mean knowledge score was 10.59±1.12 (range: 7-13), and it did not vary significantly when adjusted for demographic characteristics. The attitude was positive for 53.4% of the participants with a mean knowledge score of 10.35±1.19 and negative for 46.6% participants with a mean knowledge score of 10.88±0.98 (p = 0.02). The practice was good (≥3 score) for 81.5% participants with a mean knowledge score of 10.73±1.12 and poor for 18.5% participants with a mean knowledge score of 10.46±1.13 (p = 0.24). The attitude of the participants improved with increasing age (29.55±7.17, p = 0.02). There is comparably better knowledge regarding COVID-19 among healthcare workers. Appropriate practice correlates with better knowledge and positive attitude towards COVID-19 infection is seen with increasing age. Hence, training on protection and protective measures for having a positive attitude among healthcare workers is necessary against the fight with COVID-19 infection.
Highlights
COVID-19 is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, first identified in the city of Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province in December 2019 [1]
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A total of 103 healthcare workers participated in the study
Summary
COVID-19 is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, first identified in the city of Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province in December 2019 [1]. COVID-19 was previously known as the 2019 novel Corona virus (2019-nCoV) respiratory disease before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the official name as COVID-19 in February 2020 [2]. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic [3]. This ongoing pandemic has been spreading very rapidly, with more than 8.5 million confirmed infections and more than 0.47 million deaths worldwide as of June 22 2020 (GMT 01.18) [4]. COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic, for which appropriate infection prevention and control measures need to be adopted. Healthcare workers’ adherence to prevention and control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. We assessed the KAP among healthcare workers towards the COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic
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