Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception as Predictors of COVID-19 Safety Practices of Ride-Hailing Operators in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Since its outbreak, health authorities have launched vigorous COVID-19 health promotion campaigns. This study assesses ride-hailing operators' COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Ghana, with the aim of engendering precautionary behaviour among the populace. A complementary mixed methods approach was adopted. This involved a cross-sectional survey of 1014 participants who were also allowed to share their COVID-19-related lived experiences qualitatively after successfully completing the survey. The aggregate correct knowledge score was 84%. Most respondents were frightful of the virus (96%), but the majority had faith in the COVID-19 protocols (87%). Thus, most participants reported high use of face masks (95%) and practise personal hygiene (92%). However, social media misinformation and the subsequent complacency have dissuaded some participants from complying with the safety protocols. The qualitative data also show evidence of high susceptibility to COVID-19. The perceived benefits of safe behaviour, including masking up, were equally high among drivers surveyed, albeit barriers to preventative behaviours remain rife. Therefore, this study emphasises the importance of sustaining and improving public awareness by highlighting the susceptibility of all demographic groups to the virus and the need to counteract misinformation on social media.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Perceptions and Vaccination Acceptance/Hesitancy among the Community Pharmacists of Palermo's Province, Italy: From Influenza to COVID-19.

In Italy, following the start of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign, community pharmacies (CPs) were recruited on a voluntary basis in order to administer COVID-19 vaccines as part of their activities. The aim of the present study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention, and vaccine acceptance/hesitancy towards COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations among the community pharmacists operating in the Palermo Province. A cross-sectional study was conducted, with two different questionnaires administered before and after the conduction of the vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 at the COVID-19 vaccination center of the Palermo University Hospital (PUH). The baseline survey showed that 64% of community pharmacists (CPs) declared that they planned to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2, and 58% were vaccinated against influenza during the 2020/2021 season. Factors significantly associated with willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccination were confidence in vaccines (adjOR 1.76; CI 1.11-2.80), fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection (adjOR 1.50; CI 1.06-2.11), considering COVID-19 vaccination to be the best strategy to counteract SARS-CoV-2 (adjOR 1.79; CI 1.39-2.29), and adherence to influenza vaccination during the 2020/2021 season (adjOR 3.25; CI 2.23-4.25). The adherence among CPs of the Palermo Province to COVID-19 vaccination was 96.5%. From the post-vaccination survey, the main reasons for changing opinions on vaccination adherence were the introduction of mandatory vaccinations, fear of contracting COVID-19, and limitations on work activities in the case of vaccine refusal. The achievement of very high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates among healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the present study was mainly due to the mandatory vaccination policies; nevertheless, a willingness for COVID-19 vaccination was relatively high among pharmacists before the beginning of the vaccination campaign. HCPs and CPs should receive training on vaccination, which is recommended in the national immunization plan and is also suggested by the respondents in our study, in order to routinely re-evaluate their own vaccination profiles, as well as those of their patients.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAPs) of Community Pharmacists Regarding COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Survey in 2 Provinces of Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global pandemic with no therapy, and pharmacists being a part of the health care system have a vital role in the management of COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of community pharmacists (CPs) regarding COVID-19. METHOD: An online survey was conducted among 393 CPs in 2 provinces of Pakistan during the lockdown period. A validated questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha, 0.745) was used for data collection. All statistical analyses were analyzed by using SPSS, version 21 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY). RESULTS: Among 393 participants, 71.5% (n = 281) had good knowledge, 44% (n = 175) had a positive attitude, and 57.3% (n = 225) had good practices regarding COVID-19. Social media (45.29%, n = 178) were reported as the main source to seek information of COVID-19. Good knowledge, age ≥ 26 years, and a PhD degree level were the substantial determinants (P = < 0.05) of a good attitude. Similarly, a CP with experience of > 5 years, a PhD degree, good knowledge, and a good attitude has higher odds of having good practices as compared with reference categories (P = < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In short, a majority of the CPs had good knowledge but had a poor attitude and practice toward the management of COVID-19. Standard-structured educational and counseling programs for CPs regarding COVID-19 are needed for effective management.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice among healthcare workers towards COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a global pandemic. Healthcare workers' (HCWs) role in patient management is predisposing and can serve as means of hospitals and community transmission. This study evaluated HCWs' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 in Nigeria. METHODS: we carried out a cross-sectional survey among HCWs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria from March to June 2020. The study assessed 346 HCWs for Knowledge, attitude, and practice by using an online (Google form) self-administered questionnaire, based on a convinience sampling technique Data were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Chi-Square and one-way ANOVA were used to measure association and difference among demographic variables. The relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practice was measured using Spearman's rho correlation test. RESULTS: the mean knowledge score of the HCWs was 7.1 on a scale of 0-8. The correct overall rate of the knowledge questionnaire was 88.75%. Knowledge was gained mainly from television (35.0%) and social media (35.0%). The mean attitude score on a scale of 0-6 was 5.31 ± 0.39. Most (92.5%) participants were confident that Nigerian medical scientists would win the war against COVID-19. The majority (92.2%) of the respondents thought that SARS-CoV-2 was not a biological weapon. About 1 out of 5 respondents held that faith healing or prayer is the only cure for COVID-19. A vast majority of the HCWs were taking precautionary measures such as avoiding crowded places (94.2%), washing of hands (96.0%), and the use of personal protective equipment (91.6%) against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nevertheless, only 3 out of 5 HCWs used a face mask when leaving home. There was a significant (p = 0.046) positive correlation (0.584) between knowledge and attitude. CONCLUSION: our results showed that HCWs in Nigeria had excellent knowledge and possessed a positive attitude and good practice towards COVID-19. However; there were areas where poor knowledge, negative attitudes and unacceptable practices were observed. We recommend continuous public health education of HCWs on SARS-COV-2 infection control and prevention.

Developing an Understanding of Adolescents' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19.

Adolescents are more likely to engage in risky health practices related to COVID-19. Their compliance with infection control measures is a key factor to mitigate the spread of the disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 and their correlates among Jordanian adolescents. An online cross-sectional survey was utilized. A total of 1,054 Jordanian adolescents aged 12-18 completed and returned the survey. Overall, Jordanian adolescents showed a good base of knowledge regarding COVID-19 (regardless of their demographic characteristics) and tended to hold positive attitudes toward the country's curfew and other protective measures. The majority of adolescents reported that television and social media were their main source of information on COVID-19, while few reported receiving such information from their schools. The majority reported practicing effective health protective behaviors to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which was significantly predicted by their knowledge and attitudes toward these measures. However, there was a relatively small, yet clinically significant, percentage of adolescents who showed poor knowledge on COVID-19, had negative attitudes toward protective measures, and reported being engaged in risky practices related to infection spread. Tailored efforts are needed to improve the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among adolescents. Raising awareness and promoting positive attitudes are vital to change adolescents' health practices. Policy makers should ensure that school nurses are available in all schools and working to their full scope. School nurses are the eyes and ears of public health and primary care. They are essential members on pandemic preparedness, reopening and reentry planning teams, and can lead health care in schools and practice in a holistic culturally competent proactive manner to address the needs of students.