Adherence to preventive behaviours and associated factors towards COVID-19 among adults in Gurage zone, Ethiopia, 2020: a community-based cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: People's adherence to preventive practices for COVID-19 is fundamental to controlling the transmission of the virus. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing adherence to preventive practices for COVID-19 and associated factors among the general population in Gurage zone, Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess preventive practices and associated factors for COVID-19 among adults in the Gurage zone. The study is based on health belief model constructs. The study involved 398 participants. A multistage sampling technique was employed to recruit study participants. An interviewer-administered, close-ended, structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Binary and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify independent predictors of the outcome variable. RESULTS: The overall adherence to all recommended preventive behaviours of COVID-19 was 17.7%. The majority of respondents (73.1%) practice at least one of the recommended preventive behaviours for COVID-19. Among adults' COVID-19 preventive behaviours score, wearing a face mask was the highest (82.3%) and social distancing was the lowest (35.4%). Residence adjusted OR (AOR)) 3.42 (95% CI 1.6 to 7.31), marital status AOR 0.33 (95% CI (0.15 to 0.71)), knowledge of the absence/presence of the COVID-19 vaccine AOR 0.45 (95% CI (0.21 to 0.95)) and self-rated level of knowledge as poor AOR 0.052 (95% CI 0.036 to 0.18) and self-rated level of knowledge as not bad AOR 0.14 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.82) were significantly associated with social distancing practice. Factors affecting other COVID-19 preventive behaviours are described in the 'Results' section. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of good adherence to recommended preventive behaviours for COVID-19 was very low. Residence, marital status, knowledge of vaccine presence, knowledge of curative drug presence, knowledge of the incubation period, the self-rated level of knowledge and perceived risk to be infected with COVID-19 are significantly associated factors with adherence to preventive behaviours.

The applicability of basic preventive measures of the pandemic COVID-19 and associated factors among residents in Guraghe Zone.

INTRODUCTION: Internationally, countries have reacted to the COVID-19 outbreak by introducing key public health non-pharmaceutical interventions to protect vulnerable population groups. In response to COVID-19, the Government of Ethiopia has been taking a series of policy actions beyond public health initiatives alone. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the applicability of basic preventive measures of the pandemic COVID-19 and associated factors among the residents of Guraghe Zone from 18th to 29th September, 2020. METHODS: Community based cross sectional study was conducted at Guraghe Zone from 18th to 29th September, 2020. Systematic random sampling method was applied among the predetermined 634 samples. Variables which had p-value less than 0.25 in bivariate analysis were considered as candidate for multivariable logistic regression model. P-value <0.05 was used as a cutoff point to determine statistical significance in multiple logistic regressions for the final model. RESULT: In this study, 17.7% (95% CI: 14.7, 20.5) of the respondents apply the basic preventive measures towards the prevention of the pandemic COVID-19. In addition, being rural resident (AOR: 4.78,; 95%CI: 2.50, 8.90), being studied grade 1-8 (AOR: 3.70; 95%CI: 1.70, 7.90), being a farmer (AOR: 4.10; 95%CI: 1.25, 13.35), currently not married (AOR: 2.20, 95%CI: 1.24, 4.06), having family size 1-3(AOR: 6.50; 95%CI: 3.21, 3.35), have no diagnosed medical illness (AOR: 6.40; 95%CI: 3.85, 10.83) and having poor knowledge (AOR: 3.50; 95%CI: 1.60, 7.40) were factors which are statistically significant in multivariable logistic regression model. CONCLUSION: Despite the application of preventive measures and vaccine delivery, the applicability of the pandemic COVID-19 preventive measures was too low, which indicate that the Zone is at risk for the infection. Rural residents, those who have lower educational level, farmers, non-marrieds, those who have lower family size, those who have diagnosed medical illnesses and those who have poor knowledge were prone to the infection with the pandemic COVID-19 due to the lower practice of applying the basic preventive measures. In addition, awareness creation should be in practice at all levels of the community especially lower educational classes and rural residents.