Perception on Facilitators and Barriers to Adherence to COVID-19 Preventive Measures among Undergraduate Nursing Students at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania: a Cross-sectional Study. (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background Considering the severity of COVID-19 and the lack of drugs to treat this pandemic, the WHO and other authorities introduced various preventive measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Despite the recommendations on adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures, communities do not adhere effectively to these preventive measures which poses a risk of speeding up the transmission of the disease and ultimately high morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, this study aimed to assess perception of facilitators and barriers to adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures among undergraduate nursing students at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional design. 250 undergraduate nursing students were recruited by stratified sampling technique. The data were collected by structured self-administered questionnaires adapted from previous studies. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS computer software version 25. Descriptive statistics were used to describe variables including; socio-demographic characteristics, adherence to various COVID-19 preventive measures, and perception of participants on barriers and facilitators for adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Bivariate analysis was used to determine statistically significant associated variables at a p-value less than 0.05. Results This study included 250 undergraduate nursing students. The majority (32.0%) of them were in the first year. The majority (70.8%) of the participants had poor adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. The significant factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures were the year of study (χ2=7.91, p = 0.04) and participants’ perception of barriers to adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures (χ2= 4.21, p = 0.04). The majority (93.6%) of the participants had a good perception of facilitators for adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. More than half (51.2%) of the participants had a poor perception of barriers to adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Conclusions This study found that the majority of the participants had poor adherence to various COVID-19 preventive measures. In addition, the participant's perception of barriers to adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures was poor. However, the perception of facilitators for adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures was good. The concerned institution and organization should implement activities that increase adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Furthermore, it is important to provide students with appropriate information to correct their perceptions of barriers to adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures.