The role of knowledge, attitudes, and health workers’ behavior in COVID19 pandemic preparedness at Aceh Pidie Jaya District, Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction Health workers are at high risk of contracting the disease because they are at the forefront of assisting COVID19 patients. Globally, Indonesia has the worst death toll of health workers. Many previous studies have shown the differences in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of health workers in handling with the COVID19 pandemic. This study aims to asses the role of knowledge, attitudes, and health workers' preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aceh Pidie Jaya District. Methods A cross-sectional study and the data were collected by distributing online questionnaires about knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and preparedness related to the COVID-19 at 12 Pidie Jaya District health centers. The knowledge, behavior, and preparedness parameters used Guttman and Likert scales to measure the workers' attitudes. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and preparedness. Results In this study, 377 health workers were selected, the majority of respondents' education level was diploma, level 3 (257, 76.3%), and one-third of the respondents did not attend training. There are 197 (58.5%) respondents who had good knowledge, 177 (52.5%) positive attitudes, 283 (84%) good behavior, and 173 (51, 3%) well prepared. Furthermore, good knowledge, positive attitude, and good behavior had a significant correlation statistically with well prepared during the pandemic (p < 0.05). Discussion Most of the health workers in Aceh Pidie Jaya have good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good behavior that create adequate preparedness. Even though training is still very limited, educational attainment would remain the cornerstone for preparedness to encounter COVID-19.