Findings of a Cross‐Sectional Survey on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about COVID‐19 in Uganda: Implications for Public Health Prevention and Control Measures

Abstract

Background. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) morbidity is rising in Uganda. However, data are limited about people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Objective. To determine knowledge about COVID-19, attitudes towards presidential directives and Ministry of Health (MoH) guidelines, and adherence to practicing public health preventive measures (KAP) in Uganda. Methods. This cross-sectional survey was conducted between April 28 and May 19, 2020. Data were collected using online social media platforms, websites, and popular media outlets. We descriptively summarized data and categorized KAP scores as knowledgeable about COVID-19, positive attitude towards presidential directives and MoH guidelines, and adherent to public health preventive measures, respectively. We tested sex differences in KAP using tests of significance and established independently associated factors using modified Poisson regression analysis, reported using adjusted prevalence risk ratio (aPR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results. We studied 362 participants with the following sociodemographic characteristics: 86 (23.8%) aged 25-29 years, 212 (58.6%) males, 270 (74.6%) with tertiary or university levels of education, and 268 (74.0%) urban residents. Of the 362 participants, 264 (93.9%) were knowledgeable about COVID-19 (94.1% males and 93.8% females), 51.3% had positive attitudes towards presidential directives and MoH guidelines (51.0% male and 51.8% female), and 175 (48.3%) were adherent to practicing public health preventive measures (42.9% males and 56.0% females). Compared to males, our data shows that females were more adherent to practicing public health preventive measures (aPR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.01-1.53), knowledgeable about COVID-19 (aPR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.95-1.07), and had positive attitudes towards directives and guidelines (aPR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.82-1.25). Conclusions. This study shows that public health prevention efforts should be directed to closing the identified gaps in KAP among Ugandans in order to halt the spread of COVD-19 in Uganda as well as the East African region.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Pregnant Women Attending the Antenatal Clinic of Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria towards the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…Commonest source of information in the present study was from television (32.6%) followed by radio (21.7%) and social media (19.3%). Television being the commonest source of information was also reported by Adesegun et al, [6] Anikwe et al, [15] Nicholas et al [20] and Okello et al [26] In contrast, social media was the commonest source of information by Ejeh et al, [14] Reuben et al, [18] Sayedahmed et al [19] Habib et al [27] and Egbi et al [28] Close to 2/3 rd (65.6%) of the respondents knew that COVID-19 was a viral disease. Much higher knowledge level was observed in Northern Nigeria [27] (73.1%), Cameroon [20] (77.1%), Onitsha, [15] south-east Nigeria (88.0%), Oyo state, [24] south-west Nigeria (88.6%), north-central Nigeria [18] (91.9%) and Abakaliki, [25] southeast Nigeria (98.4%).…”

“…Most respondents had tertiary level of education as was also observed in other cities in Nigeria, [6,15,17,18,22,[27][28][29] India, [23] Uganda, [26] Chad [30] and China. [31] In contrast, secondary level of education predominated in Benin, [16] southern Nigeria.…”

“…[18] This is not surprising as all studies were carried out in health facilities located in urban areas of the states. Okello et al [26] on the contrary, reported predominance of rural dwellers. This difference could be due to different study population recruited.…”

Study on Factors of People’s Wearing Masks Based on Two Online Surveys: Cross-Sectional Evidence from China

“…Most countries and cities made mask-wearing mandatory in public places to limit the transmission. On the one hand, the use of masks can protect people from transmission by trapping larger droplets [ 2 , 3 ], preventing the inhalation of respiratory pathogens and reducing the hand-to-face contact [ 4 ]. On the other hand, mask-wearing when sick may reduce the transmission of virus to protect others [ 5 ].…”

Usability of Indocyanine Green in Robot-Assisted Hepatic Surgery

“…As an additional intraoperative aid for strategic and intraoperative planning, the water-soluble dye indocyanine green (ICG) has been suggested [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. ICG was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1957 and has been used in various medical fields [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Since the 1980s, ICG has been used to test liver function prior to hepatobiliary surgery.…”