Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding COVID-19 Among Healthcare Workers in Primary Healthcare Centers in Dubai: A Cross-Sectional Survey, 2020

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to challenge healthcare services worldwide. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are key to the continued effort to overcome the pandemic. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of HCWs toward COVID-19 in primary health centers in Dubai.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at four primary health centers in Dubai, including two fever clinics, from July 5th to July 11th, 2020. A self-administered online questionnaire was distributed to nurses and physicians working in these centers, which evaluated their knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding COVID-19 and their associations with the participants' demographic factors. A total score of 80% and above constituted a level of sufficiency in each section. Additionally, Mann-Whitney U test and multivariable logistic regression were used to analyze the variables.Results: A total of 176 HCWs completed the questionnaire, with a 91.2% (176/193) response rate. They were predominantly female (158/176, 90.0%), nurses (128/176, 72.7%), and non-Emiratis (150/176, 85.2%). While official health organizations were the primary source of information for 91.5% (161/176) of participants, only 38.1% (67/176) reported using scientific journals as one of their sources. Overall, 57.4% (101/176) of participants had a sufficient overall level of knowledge. Moreover, knowledge regarding signs, symptoms, and at-risk groups was generally satisfactory. However, knowledge about the virus, testing, transmission, and the isolation of contacts with positive cases was identified correctly by less than two-thirds of the participants. Half of the participants (89/176, 50.6%) expressed their concern about personally acquiring the infection, 112/176 (63.6%) worried about their relatives acquiring it, and 72/176 (40.9%) expressed some hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine once available. Overall, only 58/176 (33.0%) HCWs had a sufficient overall positive attitude score. Nurses, compared to physicians, and non-Emiratis compared to Emiratis' HCWs, had statistically higher mean scores for attitude (U = 2,212, p < 0.01; and U = 1164.5, p < 0.01, respectively). The majority of participants (156/176, 88.6%) reported acceptable infection control practices.Conclusion: Given the gaps identified in the knowledge and attitude, we recommend further training to improve the skills of primary HCWs, with encouragement to practice evidence-based medicine. Additionally, further exploration regarding vaccine hesitancy is warranted.

COVID‐19 infection and the broader impacts of the pandemic on healthcare workers

“…137 Only 38.1% of HCWs in primary care in Dubai reported using scientific journals or research papers as their primary sources of information during the outbreak. 138 Correct knowledge about the virus was significantly associated with pro-vaccine attitudes of HCWs of an inner city hospital in New York. 139 Investing in the staff responsible for delivering vaccines in the workplace, as well as other potential vaccine allies, such as managers, can help reduce COVID vaccine hesitancy amongst HCWs.…”

“…Predictors of hesitancy were younger age, female sex, higher score on a COVID‐19 conspiracy beliefs scale, lower trust in employer, lack of influenza vaccine uptake in the previous season, previous COVID‐19 and pregnancy 137 . Only 38.1% of HCWs in primary care in Dubai reported using scientific journals or research papers as their primary sources of information during the outbreak 138 . Correct knowledge about the virus was significantly associated with pro‐vaccine attitudes of HCWs of an inner city hospital in New York 139 .…”

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices About COVID-19 Among Healthcare Workers in Iran During the First Wave of the Pandemic

“…Although more than 90% considered respiratory diseases and age>60 as predisposing factors, almost 65% did recognize hypertension, despite imposing significant hazard, and only 40% realized severe obesity as a prognostic factor. In another study, most HCWs reported that patients with COVID-19 and obesity are more likely to develop more severe conditions ( 15 ). While patients with diabetes indicate higher mortality due to COVID-19 compared with patients without any underlying comorbidities ( 16 ), 13% of HCWs did not recognize diabetes as a prognostic factor.…”

Measuring COVID-19 Related Health Literacy in Healthcare Professionals—Psychometric Evaluation of the HL-COV-HP Instrument

“…While there is a growing body of research on aspects of COVID-19 related health literacy of the general population [4,15,16,22] or specific populations, e.g., migrants, children, students, or patients [8][9][10][11]13,[19][20][21]23], little is known about the COVID-19 related health literacy of healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurses, or psychologists. Since 2020, many studies have investigated the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of healthcare professionals worldwide [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. The results indicate a lack of adequate knowledge about COVID-19 in many cases (6-42%) [24,25,27,32].…”

“…Since 2020, many studies have investigated the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of healthcare professionals worldwide [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. The results indicate a lack of adequate knowledge about COVID-19 in many cases (6-42%) [24,25,27,32]. Healthcare professionals having a higher education were found to have better knowledge about COVID-19 [28,33,35].…”