ABSTRACT
Background: During its first wave of COVID-19 infection in sub-Saharan Africa, there was insufficient understanding of the pandemic among front-line health care professionals that has led to a misidentification, and mistreatment of affected patients, with a potential risk of contracting and spreading the disease. This study was carried out to determine the Knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of front-line health workers (HWs) towards COVID-19 in Africa and their related factors. Methods: : This was a multi-centers online cross-sectional study conducted over a 3-months study-period using a google survey link among front lines HWs involved in the COVID-19 response in 26 African countries. Chi-square test & logistic regression were used in the bivariate and multivariate analysis respectively to assess determinants of KAP. Statistical analysis was done using STATA version 16; all tests were two-sided with 95% confidence interval. Results: : Five hundred and seventeen (517, 96.3%) consented to participate in this study from 26 African countries; 289 (55.9%) were male and 228 (44.1%) female. Overall, most of HWs, 379 (73.3%) showed poor knowledge about COVID-19 infection and preventive measures. In contrast, majority of them showed good attitude (89%) and practice (90.3%) towards prevention of COVID-19 infections. Knowledge varied among countries; Uganda had the greatest number of HWs with good knowledge. (OR = 28.09, p <0.0001) followed by Ghana (OR=10.92, p=0.001) and DRC (OR: 4.59, p=0.015). The cadre of HWs also influenced knowledge; doctors were the most knowledgeable as compared to other cadres (OR: 3.4, p= 0.005). Additionally, knowledge increased with increasing HWs’ education level (p=0.011).Attitude and practice were both influenced by HWs country of workplace (p=0.05 & p< 0.0001 respectively) and their cadre (p = 0.025 & p < 0.0001 respectively). Conclusions: : Majority of the front-line HWs in the African region had an overall good attitude and practice towards COVID-19 infection and practice measures despite relatively poor Knowledge. The KAP is influenced by HWs country of workplace, their cadre and level of education.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Background: During its first wave in sub-Saharan Africa, there was insufficient understanding of the new pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among frontline health care professionals that has led to a misidentification, and mistreatment of affected patients, with a potential risks of contacting and spreading the disease. This study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of frontline health care givers (HCGs) towards COVID-19 in Africa and their related factors.Methods: This was a multi-centers online cross-sectional study conducted over a 3-months study-period using a google survey link among front lines African HCGs in the COVID-19 response units within 28 African countries. Bivariate and Multivariate logistic regression were used to assess the associations between co-variates. Statistical significance was set at p≤ 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results: There a total of 518 out of 588 approached HCGs participated in the study from 28 African countries. Overall, 496 (96%) had bad practice score, and 405 (78%) had positive attitude regarding COVID-19. The related factors of KAP towards COVID-19 identified were the lack of self- esteem and self-confidence in the management of COVID-19 (aOR: - 0.17, 95% CI=-0.766 to -4.33, p >0.05), Ignorance (aOR: 1.55, 95% CI=1.003 to 2.402, p <0.048), lack of knowledge updates on COVID-19 (aOR: 1.81, 95% CI=1.105 to 2.951, p <0.018).Conclusions: Majority of the frontline HCG has an overall good knowledge and attitude towards the disease across the African continents regardless of their level of study. However, the KAP is influenced negatively by the lack of self-esteem, self- confidence, ignorance, and insufficiency of frequent update of COVID-19 information. Promoting psychological support in addition to regular trainings could help to enhance the KAP of frontline HCG in African region.