<p>COVID-19-Related Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Hospital and Community Pharmacists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia</p>

Abstract

This study was launched to assess COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude and practice among hospital and community pharmacists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Self-administered questionnaire was distributed to pharmacists working in hospitals and community pharmacies by physically delivering the questionnaire to study subjects. Data collected were entered into and analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics ® Version 25. Binary logistic analysis was used to determine the association between independent and outcome variables. Results: All 295 participants who completed the survey stated that they had heard about COVID-19. Almost all of the participants were aware of the causative agent, the clinical manifestations and the ways of transmission of COVID-19. Most participants (92.2%) identified elderly individuals as one of the high-risk groups for severe complications and death while 89.5% identified supportive therapy and life support as recommended management options to date. More than half (53.2%) of the respondents were found to have adequate knowledge about COVID-19. Among respondents, 89.8% had a positive attitude on the importance of following WHO recommendations in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. Only 9.8% had confidence in the capacity of healthcare facilities in the country to properly handle potential COVID-19 pandemic. Inadequate protective measures were taken to protect the staff from COVID-19 in the institutions of 70.2% of the participants. Among the WHO recommended prevention measures, hand washing was exercised by 97.3% of the study participants. Conclusion: The study findings confirmed that there is a high level of knowledge on each specific aspect of COVID-19 among the study participants. However, only about half of the participants had adequate knowledge about the disease. The pharmacists showed a predominantly positive attitude towards the importance of WHO recommendations and predominantly negative attitude towards the country's capacity to deal with the pandemic. The practice related to COVID-19 was inadequate at institutional level. Nevertheless, most of the pharmacists individually exercised self-protective measures against COVID-19. All stakeholders should work on ensuring the adequate supply of materials and services that aid in controlling the pandemic.

<p>Perceived Barriers and Preventive Measures of COVID-19 Among Healthcare Providers in Debretabor, North Central Ethiopia, 2020</p>

“…A similar study in Pakistan showed that 50.7% 24 of HCWs reported limited infection control materials. This was also reported by similar studies done in Ethiopia, 45,46 where resource scarcity was the main reason to practice preventive measures. This is true that provide intense education and training on use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, ward disinfection, medical waste management, and sterilization of patient-care devices and management of occupational exposure 20,47 reduce the burden of pandemic infection.…”

Knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 among health professionals in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…All studies had a low risk during the quality assessment. Three studies were conducted in the Amhara region [ 17 – 19 ], two in Addis Ababa [ 20 , 21 ], one in Oromia [ 22 ], one in Tigray [ 23 ], one in SNNP [ 24 ] and one in Harari [ 25 ]. The other two articles on KAP and COVID-19 were nationwide studies [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Knowledge, attitude and practice survey of COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Nigeria

“…Most studies were conducted in industrialized countries revealing mass media played key roles in higher levels of knowledge, better attitudes and practices [ 18 – 20 , 23 ]. Fewer studies have also been conducted in predominantly black African populations e.g., Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda [ 24 – 26 ] and also in countries with predominantly Muslim populations e.g., Bangladesh, Egypt and Saudi-Arabia [ 27 – 30 ], with a binational survey conducted in Egypt and Southern Nigeria [ 28 ]. As in our study, the results of the surveys generally showed lower levels of knowledge among respondents in developing countries with respondents being less satisfied with their countries’ levels of preparedness towards control of COVID-19 [ 28 ].…”