Assessing Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Towards COVID-19 Public Health Preventive Measures Among Patients at Mulago National Referral Hospital

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has become a major global health challenge, with Uganda reporting over 20,000 cases. There is, however, a scarcity of data on the perception of patients in Uganda towards the highly infectious disease. We aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 preventive measures among patients at Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH), Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted in August, 2020, among patients in surgical and medical wards at MNRH. An interviewer-administered, pre-validated questionnaire was used to collect data that was entered into Google Forms and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and STATA 16. Descriptive statistics was used to present data from univariate analysis. Patients whose knowledge and practice scores were greater or equal to the average score were regarded to have good knowledge and practices respectively. Chisquare, Fisher's Exact tests and binary logistic regression were used to assess factors associated with COVID-19 knowledge and practices. A P<0.05 was statistically significant. Results: Overall, 114 patients were approached and 102 consented to participate. Most were females (53.8%), aged above 45 years (31.4%) with 40.2% reporting primary level as the highest level of education. About 55.9% (n=57) had adequate knowledge for COVID-19 and its related practices, and 52% (n=53) had good COVID-19 related practices. Knowledge significantly differed by marital status at bivariate analysis (P=0.020), however this lost significance at logistic regression. Female patients were thrice more likely to have good COVID-19 prevention practices compared to males (COR: 2.59, 95% CI: 1.2 to 5.8, P=0.020). Some 47 (46.1%) participants perceived that COVID-19 preventive measures were not difficult at all to observe. Conclusion: About half of the patients at Mulago National Referral Hospital lack adequate knowledge and practice on COVID-19 prevention. Continued patient education is required to increase knowledge which will in turn improve adherence to COVID-19 preventive practices.

COVID-19 preventive practices and associated factors among high school and preparatory school students in Dessie City, Ethiopia

“…Only 38.6% of the students avoided shaking hands, hugging and kissing during greetings, a lower rate than those reported for Ethiopian health care workers ( 50 ), hospital visitors ( 48 ), and a predominantly rural population ( 44 ) and Syrian youth and adults on a social platform (92.5%) ( 37 ). Although the heterogeneity of these populations makes comparisons difficult, the absence of a COVID-19 prevention program in Dessie schools appears to be a significant factor in their low rates.…”

Systematic review and meta‐analysis of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID‐19 among chronic disease patients: A global perspective

“…Following this phase, a comprehensive review of the full-text articles was conducted, excluding 186 studies from further consideration. A total of 23 studies, including 21 studies for knowledge, 10,12,13,15,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] 12 studies for attitudes, 10,12,14,15,[19][20][21]23,29,30,34,35 and 12 studies for practice 10,12,[18][19][20][21]23,[29][30][31]35 were included in the meta-analysis (Figure 1).…”

“…Although numerous studies have explored chronic disease patients’ knowledge, and attitudes toward COVID‐19, 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 their findings are inconsistent in some cases, such as the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice. To safeguard this high‐risk population, improve disease treatment, and put into place efficient public health measures to stop the virus's transmission and lessen its effects on vulnerable groups, it is essential to comprehend the KAP of people with chronic illnesses with regard to COVID‐19.…”

“…11 Understanding KAP in high-risk populations, particularly in the patients with chronic diseases, can help produce favorable outcomes in planned behavior concerning COVID-19 prevention. 10,12 Although numerous studies have explored chronic disease patients' knowledge, and attitudes toward COVID-19, 10,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] their findings are inconsistent in some cases, such as the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice. To safeguard this high-risk population, improve disease treatment, and put into place efficient public health measures to stop the virus's transmission and lessen its effects on vulnerable groups, it is essential to comprehend the KAP of people with chronic illnesses with regard to COVID-19.…”

Effects of Organizational Atmosphere and Organizational Practice on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Diffusion and Utilization of Hepatic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Among Physicians

“…As stated by knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP) theory, the process of human behavior change can be divided into three steps, namely, acquiring knowledge, generating attitudes/beliefs, and forming practice/behaviors ( 8 ). The cognitive change caused by knowledge acquisition does not necessarily lead to behavior change; it should first lead to a change in perception, and then change people's behavior through the change in perception ( 9 ).…”