Knowledge, attitude and practice of preventive measures against coronavirus disease 2019 among pregnant women in a tertiary health facility in southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: The outbreak of corona virus disease (COVID-19) affects all categories of people and has resulted in death of several thousand of them all over the world including pregnant women. Various preventive strategies have been recommended to curb further spread of the disease thus limiting the morbidity and mortality of the disease. Objectives: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of preventive measures against COVID‐19among antenatal attendees in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti.Methods: A cross-sectional study of 423 pregnant women attending prenatal care at EKSUTH between 1st April, 2020 and 31st May, 2020. Data was collected using a self-administered validated questionnaire from consenting participants on their socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and practice of preventive measures against COVID-19. Logistic regression was done to identify determinant factors with p<0.05.Results: About 87.2%, 79.2% and 74.5% of the pregnant women had good level of knowledge and practice of preventive measures as well as positive attitude towards COVID-19 respectively. The mean age, parity and gestational age of women was 28.45±5.51years, 2.21±1.61 and 27.73±8.99weeks respectively. Younger age group, higher education, being married, late trimester of pregnancy and urban residency were the significant determinants of good knowledge, attitude and practice of COVID-19 preventive measures, p<0.05.Conclusion: The massive campaigns by government and non-governmental organization have tremendously created awareness among the pregnant women. These efforts should be sustained through the provision of information, education and communication materials that will further improve the compliance to the various preventive measures.