Internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents in southeast Nigeria and implications for adolescent care in the post-pandemic era: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of internet addiction amongst adolescents in Southeast Nigeria during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 10 randomly selected secondary schools, 2 (one urban and one rural) each from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi Enugu and Imo states of southeastern Nigeria between July and August 2021. Data on demographic variables were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Young's Internet Addiction Test was used to assess the extent of internet use. Analysis was done using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 23. The level of significance was set at a p-value of <0.05. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 16.2 ± 1.8 years and the male: female ratio was 1:1.6. Most of the adolescents (61.1%) used the internet for academic purposes, while 32.8% used it for social interactions and the majority (51.5%) used their phones. The prevalence of internet addiction was 88.1% (24.9% had mild, 59.6% had moderate, while 3.6% had severe addiction) and a good proportion of the respondents (81.1%) perceived addiction as bad. Internet addiction was significantly associated with the respondent's age (p = 0.043), mother's level of education (p = 0.023), family size (p = 0.021), place of residence (p = 0.035), alcohol intake (p = 0.017), smoking (p = 0.015), substance use (p = 0.001) as well as the duration of internet use (p < 0.001). Internet addiction was predicted by the male gender (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.054; confidence interval (CI): 1.200-3.518), early adolescent age group (10-13 years) (AOR: 0.115; C1: 0.015-0.895) as well as the duration of internet use (AOR: 0.301; CI: 0.189-0.479). Conclusions: The prevalence of internet addiction among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic era was high. The predictors of addiction were the male gender, early adolescent age group and duration of internet use.

COVID-19 infection: Knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact among healthcare workers in a South-Eastern Nigerian state.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection rate and mortality among Nigerian health care workers appear to be on the increase. This study determined the level of knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact of COVID-19 infection on healthcare workers (HCWs) working in a South-Eastern Nigerian state. METHODOLOGY: This was a web-based, cross-sectional study conducted among healthcare workers in South-eastern, Nigeria during the lockdown period. Socio-demographic profile, knowledge of COVID-19, fears and impact concerning COVID-19, attitude of health workers to work, preventive practices during this pandemic period were obtained. Data were analysed using STATA 16.0. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests of association were used to determine the association between variables, with the significance level set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 403 health care workers participated in the study. Majority of participants (n = 357, 88.59%) had good knowledge and good preventive practices (n = 328, 81.39%) of COVID-19. A significant proportion of respondents had a poor attitude to work (n = 101, 25.06%) and an attitude of indifference (n = 233, 57.82%). Almost half (48.64%) of participants had been negatively affected by COVID-19. Knowledge significantly influenced practice (p = 0.029). Lack of Personal protective equipment, fear of dying and going to common places, had a significant impact on the attitude of workers. CONCLUSION: Good knowledge which influenced practice, high use of preventive practices, with associated poor and indifferent attitude was noted among healthcare workers. Fear of death and lack of personal protective equipment had a strong impact on attitude. Female HCWs had poorer attitude to work than males.

COVID-19 infection: Knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact among healthcare workers in a South-Eastern Nigerian state

Introduction: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection rate and mortality among Nigerian health care workers appear to be on the increase. This study determined the level of knowledge, attitude, practices, and impact of COVID-19 infection on healthcare workers (HCWs) working in a South-Eastern Nigerian state.Methodology: This was a web-based, cross-sectional study conducted among healthcare workers in South-eastern, Nigeria during the lockdown period. Socio-demographic profile, knowledge of COVID-19, fears and impact concerning COVID-19, attitude of health workers to work, preventive practices during this pandemic period were obtained. Data were analysed using STATA 16.0. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests of association were used to determine the association between variables, with the significance level set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 403 health care workers participated in the study. Majority of participants (n = 357, 88.59%) had good knowledge and good preventive practices (n = 328, 81.39%) of COVID-19. A significant proportion of respondents had a poor attitude to work (n = 101, 25.06%) and an attitude of indifference (n = 233, 57.82%). Almost half (48.64%) of participants had been negatively affected by COVID-19. Knowledge significantly influenced practice (p = 0.029). Lack of Personal protective equipment, fear of dying and going to common places, had a significant impact on the attitude of workers. Conclusion: Good knowledge which influenced practice, high use of preventive practices, with associated poor and indifferent attitude was noted among healthcare workers. Fear of death and lack of personal protective equipment had a strong impact on attitude. Female HCWs had poorer attitude to work than males