Community's Knowledge of COVID-19 and Its Associated Factors in Mizan-Aman Town, Southwest Ethiopia, 2020

Determinants of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards preventive measures of COVID-19 among adult residencies in Silte zone, Southern Ethiopia

Introduction

coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) is currently a global health threat and an international public health emergency. There is a strong need to reinforce community knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) to control the spread of the virus. The study aimed to identify the determinants of KAP towards preventive measures of COVID-19 among adult residencies.

Methods

a community-based cross-sectional study design was employed in the communities of Silte zone, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 853 participants were selected using multistage stratified sampling technique. We used structured interview administered questionnaire. The KAP level was presented in descriptive and the associated variables conducted in binary logistic regression model.

Results

overall, 81.7% had good knowledge, 78.4% had a positive attitude, and 43.9% had good practices. Being a female (Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR): 2.3; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.6-3.3), age between "31-40" (AOR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1-3.8) and able to read and write (AOR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.7-3.7) were significantly associated factors of good knowledge towards COVID-19. Being urban resident (AOR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2-2.6) was significantly associated variable with positive attitude towards COVID-19. Being a government employee (AOR: 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.7), able to read and write (AOR: 4.5; 95% CI: 3-6.7) and having good knowledge regarding COVID-19 (AOR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.6-3.7) were significantly associated factors with good preventive practice towards COVID-19.

Conclusion

alarmingly low preventive practice towards COVID-19 pandemic was indicated. Therefore, health education and promotion programs aimed at mobilizing and improving COVID-19-related practice are urgently needed, especially for those who are illiterate, having rural residency, or generally among underprivileged populations.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Muhammadiyah Members’ Obedience Based on Regulation of COVID-19 Prevention

BACKGROUND: Community involvement in community organization is as Muhammadiyah in handling Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) that is essential. Since the beginning of the emergence COVID-19 in Indonesia, Muhammadiyah had shown concern in tackling COVID-19. AIM: This research analyzed the relationship between the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of Muhammadiyah members’ compliance based on regulation on preventing the spread of COVID-19. METHODS: This research used a cross-sectional design with 100 respondents from Muhammadiyah members in Surabaya. The respondents were selected through purposive sampling. The researchers distributed the questionnaires with Google form. The descriptive analysis determined each variable and the non-parametric Rank Spearman or Kendall’s tau-b statistical SPSS test that analyzed the correlation between respondents’ behavior and compliance. RESULTS: The majority of Muhammadiyah residents in Surabaya have good knowledge, attitudes, practices, and obedience. CONCLUSION: Community involvement in relation to handling COVID-19 that was very important, especially Muhammadiyah through its various instruments to carry out campaigns and efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Community Engagement in the Fight Against COVID-19: Knowledge, Attitude, and Prevention Practices Among Dire Dawa Residents, Eastern Ethiopia

Background: There is a global concern that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cannot be addressed without the integration and active engagement of communities. We aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of the residents in Eastern Ethiopia toward COVID-19. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on May 1-30, 2020 among the residents of Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire on the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices toward COVID-19. We used random sampling to select the participants. Data was entered into the statistics and data (STATA) version for data cleaning and analysis. Binary logistic regression models with 95% CI were used to conduct bivariable [crude odds ratio (COR)] and multivariable [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)] analyses. Result: A total of 415 community residents responded to the questionnaire. Of those participants, 52.5% (95% CI 47.7-57) had adequate knowledge, 31.6% (95% CI 27-36) had favorable attitudes, and 49% (95% CI 45-50) had good practice toward the precautionary measures of COVID-19. Adequate knowledge had a significant association with urban residence (AOR = 5, 95% CI 3.1-8.4) and literacy (AOR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.5-6.7). Good preventions practices had a significant association with place of residence (AOR = 4.1, 95% CI 2.3-7.2), literacy (AOR = 2.9, 95% CI: 1,2-7.4), adequate knowledge (AOR = 3.5, 95% CI 2.3-5.8), and favorable attitude (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.4-3.8) about the disease. Conclusion: The overall COVID-19-related KAP was inadequate in the majority of the residents of Dire Dawa that occupy irregular migration flows. These call for robust community-centered behavioral communication strategies that could bridge the gaps and help prevent and control COVID-19 and other future pandemics in their community.

Evidence Gaps and Challenges in the Fight Against COVID-19 in Africa: Scoping Review of the Ethiopian Experience

BACKGROUND

Ethiopia, like many African countries, took immediate actions to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and its impacts. However, the pandemic control measures were not guided by robust local evidence and not tailored to national contexts. In this review, we aimed to evaluate the evidence gaps and challenges of COVID-19 control measures in Ethiopia during the early months of the pandemic.

DESIGN

Scoping Review.

DATA SOURCE

Searches were conducted in PubMed, LitCovid, Web of Sciences, Embase, MedRx, ChemRxiv, BioRx, and Google Scholar.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Peer-reviewed or pre-print original research articles on COVID-19 from Ethiopia during a period of January 1, 2020 and October 10, 2020 were included in this review.

RESULTS

Of 573 articles found, 64 were eligible for inclusion. However, only 25 of them were peer-reviewed; 78% (50/64) were based on cross-sectional descriptive studies. Most of the studies focused on human behavior and healthcare system; only 13 articles addressed epidemiology and clinical spectrum of COVID-19. The studies have revealed a good level of awareness and a favorable attitude by community and healthcare workers (HCWs) towards COVID-19 and its control. However, the practices of infection prevention were found to be low among HCWs and the community. The outbreak unfolded at a slower rate than initially feared but the impact of the counter measures against COVID-19 on the delivery of essential healthcare services was felt more than the direct impact of the pandemic. Moreover, the actions taken by the country did not appear to be tailored to the pattern of the outbreak and existing local evidence. The overall number of published COVID-19-related scientific articles from Ethiopia during the review period was found to be limited.

CONCLUSION

COVID-19 control in Ethiopia was challenged by lack of robust local scientific evidence, and the pandemic control measures were not adapted to local context and the outbreak patterns. Thus, Ethiopia and other African countries should design culturally sensitive and locally acceptable public health interventions for COVID-19 and potential future outbreaks based on locally generated scientific evidence.

Community risk perception and barriers for the practice of COVID-19 prevention measures in Northwest Ethiopia: A qualitative study

Background

According to the World Health Organization, viral diseases continue to emerge and represent a serious issue for public health. The elderly and those with underlying chronic diseases are more likely to become severe cases. Our study sets out to present in-depth exploration and analyses of the community’s risk perception and barriers to the practice of COVID-19 prevention measures in South Gondar Zone, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A qualitative study was done in three districts of South Gondar Zone. Community key informants and health extension workers were selected purposely for in-depth interviews and focus group discussion. The interviews were conducted by maintaining WHO recommendations for social distancing and use of appropriate personal protective equipment. The sample size for the study depended on the theoretical saturation of the data at the time of data collection. The qualitative data generated from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions was transcribed verbatim and translated into English language and thematically analyzed using open code software version 4.02.

Results

Three main themes and five categories emerged from the narrations of the participants regarding the perceived barriers for the practice of COVID-19 prevention measures. A total of 9 community key informants (5 women development armies (HDA), 2 health extension workers (HEW), and 2 religious leaders participated in the in-depth interview, while two focus group discussions (7 participants in each round) were conducted among purposely selected community members. The age of the participants ranged from 24 to 70 years with the median age of 48 years. The major identified barriers for practicing COVID-19 prevention measures were the presence of strong cultural and religious practices, perceiving that the disease does not affect the young, misinformation about the disease, and lack of trust in the prevention measures.

Conclusions

Socio-cultural, religious, and economic related barriers were identified from the participant’s narratives for the practice of COVID-19 prevention measures in south Gondar Zone. Our findings suggest the need to strengthen community awareness and education programs about the prevention measures of COVID-19 and increase diagnostic facilities with strong community-based surveillance to control the transmission of the pandemic.

COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers and associated factors in urban areas of Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Although several studies have been conducted on COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and prevention practices among healthcare workers and the general population, there has not been any study among taxi drivers in Ethiopia, including Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, the lack of which hinders providing evidence-based interventions to this target group. Thus, this study was designed to contribute to proper planning of COVID-19 intervention measures among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, Ethiopia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 417 taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town during July to August, 2020. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and an observational checklist. The collected data was checked, coded and entered to EpiData version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 for data cleaning and analysis. The outcome variables of this study were good or poor knowledge, positive or negative attitude and good or poor frequent hand hygiene practices towards COVID-19. Bivariate (Crude Odds Ratio [COR]) and multivariable (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]) logistic regression analysis were employed to identify factors significantly associated with good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers. Significance level of variables was declared at a p < 0.05 from the adjusted analysis.

MAIN FINDINGS

Out of the total 417 taxi drivers, 69.8% [95% CI: 65.2-73.9], 67.6% [95%CI: 63.1-72.2] and 66.4% [95% CI: 62.1-71.0] of the drivers had good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices, respectively. Educational level (AOR = 7.55, 95% CI = 4.55-12.54), place of residence (AOR = 5.41, 95% CI = 1.4-20.08) and attitude towards COVID-19 prevention (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.02-2.74) were factors associated with good knowledge about COVID-19. Further, age of taxi drivers greater than 30 years (AOR = 3.01, 95% CI = 1.76-5.13), educational level of secondary or above (AOR = 3.16, 95% CI = 1.88-5.31), income (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.48-7.61), and knowledge about COVID-19 (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.21-3.54) were factors associated with positive attitude towards COVID-19 prevention. In addition, attitude towards COVID-19 (AOR = 5.5, 95% CI = 3.40-8.88) and educational level (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.15-2.95) were the factors associated with good frequent hand hygiene practices.

CONCLUSION

We concluded that the rates of good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices were relatively low among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town. We strongly recommended providing training about COVID-19 prevention measures for taxi drivers that considers age, education status and attitude areas essential to improve their knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Prevention Practices Toward Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

Coronavirus disease is a major global public health problem. The contagious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was declared a pandemic following the outbreak of cases of respiratory illness during 2019. Although studies assessed COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, and practice in Ethiopia the findings were highly variable and inconsistent.

Objectives

This study assessed the pooled status of knowledge, attitude, and prevention practices regarding COVID-19 in Ethiopia.

Methods

International and national electronic databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Google, were systematically searched. All observational studies on COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, and prevention practices in Ethiopia were included. We assessed heterogeneity among the included studies using the Cochrane Q test statistics and I² test. Lastly, a random-effects meta-analysis model was fitted to estimate the pooled proportion of knowledge, attitude, and prevention practices toward COVID-19 in Ethiopia.

Results

Our search identified 206 studies, 13 of which were included in the final analysis. Adequate knowledge, good attitude, and good prevention practice toward COVID-19 in Ethiopia were observed in 70.25% (95% CI, 61.82%–78.02%), 69.08% (95% CI, 55.42%–81.24%), and 41.62% (95% CI, 27.77%–56.17%) of total participants across studies, respectively.

Conclusions

The results of this study revealed low proportions of adequate knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices toward COVID-19 in Ethiopia. The lowest pooled proportion was observed in the Amhara region. These findings indicate the need to revise plans and policies to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and prevention practices of people toward COVID-19 in Ethiopia, especially in the Amhara region. (Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2021; 82:XXX–XXX) © 2021 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc.

Level of Community Readiness for the Prevention of COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Factors Among Residents of Awi Zone, Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Novel coronavirus 19 is a contagious disease that affects all most all countries of the world and puts the world in great challenge. Even though, there is a limited testing capacity in Africa the number of cases and deaths is progressively increased. This catastrophic case has a great impact in Africa unless preventive measures are effectively undertaken. In Ethiopia, the number of COVID-19 cases and death are increasing over time. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the level of community readiness for COVID-19 pandemic prevention and its associated factors in residents of Awi Zone, Northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 1524 study participants from July 28 to August 27, 2020. Data were collected using structured and pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaires. The collected data were entered into EPI data 4.6 versions and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0. Those variables with P-value<0.25 were entered into multivariable analyses and those variables with P-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Finally, the findings of the result were explained using texts, figures, and tables.

RESULTS

A total of 1423 participants have participated in the study. The finding revealed that the prevalence of knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice towards COVID-19 were found to be 76.6%, 68.4%, 68.5%, and 29% respectively. In final model, being a female [AOR=1.388 (95% CI: 1.050-1.834) P= 0.021], married respondents [AOR=3.116 (95% CI: 1.592-6.099) P= 0.001], Muslim religion followers [AOR=2.392 (95% CI:1.503-3.806) P=0.002], and able to read and write [AOR=1.986 (95% CI:1.311-3.006) P=0.002] were some of the variables significantly associated with the level of community readiness towards COVID-19 preventive measures.

CONCLUSION

The study findings indicate that respondent's level of community readiness for COVID-19 prevention was mainly affected by sex, marital status, religion, and educational status. The Health education programs aimed at mobilizing and improving COVID-19 related level of community readiness especially practice are urgently needed. Awareness creation programs on more targeted groups such as men, unmarried and those with low educational level and religious leaders should be teaching the believers by interacting with faith and science on the means of preventing the pandemic.

COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitude, Practices and Their Associated Factors Among Dessie City Residents, Northeast Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Sufficient knowledge and favorable attitude are among the key determinants for people's adherence to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) precaution measures. Hence, this study assessed Dessie city resident's knowledge, attitude, and practice on COVID-19.

METHODS

We used a facility-based cross-sectional study among 424 Dessie city residents from 17 to 21/05/2020. We dichotomized knowledge, attitude and practice scores based on the mean value. We entered the data into EpiData manager software 4.2 and exported to SPSS-20 for data analysis. We run three independent logistic regression analyses to determine factors associated with sufficient knowledge, a favorable attitude, and adequate practice. We defined significant association at a p-value of <0.05.

RESULTS

Among 424 participants, 92.7% have sufficient knowledge about COVID-19, while 96% have a favorable attitude to prevent and control the pandemic. However, the practice was adequate only in 44.6% of the participants. Increasing educational status (AOR: 6.5, 95% CI: 2-21.4), availability of television (AOR: 3.8, 95% CI: 1.4-10.5), having a telephone (AOR: 3.4, 95% CI: 1.3-9.1) and radio (AOR: 4.2, 95% CI: 1.1-15.5) are the factors associated with sufficient knowledge, while sufficient knowledge (AOR: 5.4, 95% CI: 1.7-17.2), is the only predictor identified for favorable attitude. Similarly, being a farmer (AOR: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.047-0.4), availability of telephone (AOR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.2-8.2), and sufficient knowledge (AOR: 15.2, 95% CI: 1.9-118) are the predictors of adequate practice.

CONCLUSION

In the study area, the participant's knowledge and attitude are found to be sufficient to halt coronavirus transmission. However, practice in the vast majority is not adequate to stop coronavirus transmission. Educational status, television, telephone, radio, occupation and knowledge are the significant factors for successful prevention and control of coronavirus. Despite escalating public knowledge, our finding suggests the government to follow some compulsory regulations for uniform implementation of preventive measures.