Knowledge and Perception on Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention Among Health Workers
Abstract
This study aimed to assess knowledge and perception on COVID-19 transmission and prevention among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospitals in Yaba Lagos State. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at the frontline of defense against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Inadequate knowledge and perception among health workers can directly influence practices and lead to delayed diagnosis, poor infection control practice, and the spread of the disease. This research employed quantitative research methods with a cross-sectional research design and chi-square analysis approach. The sample size consisted of 99 respondents who work with the Nigerian army reference hospital in Yaba, Lagos State. The results of the finding showed that 30.3% of the respondents had poor knowledge about covid 19 and the remaining 69.7% had good knowledge of COVID-19 transmission, control, and prevention. As many as 66.7% of the respondents had good knowledge, while 42.4 % had a constructive perception of COVID-19 transmission and prevention. The result of the analysis showed that there were significant relationships between knowledge and perceptions related to COVID-19 transmission prevention among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospitals Yaba Lagos State. Based on the result of the finding it is recommended that government should improve workers’ knowledge and perceptions on COVID-19 transmission prevention and control among health workers. Conclusion: Causes of increased risk perception need to consider by the government and the Ministry of Health.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The outbreak of coronavirus diseases in December 2019, in Wuhan Province, China has created an avalanche of health issues and crisis for various media outlets to report. The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC, 2020) reports that coronaviruses are a large family of viruses capable of causing severe illness in animals or humans. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) is an infectious disease causing respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory difficulties. It originated from the Hunan seafood market at Wuhan, China where live bats, snakes, raccoon dogs, wild animals among others were sold in December 2019 (Shereen, Oginni, Geraand Ugwu and Motui, 2020) and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020 (WHO, 2020).
Since its identification, the virus is said to have accounted for about 512,311 deaths globally out of a swooping statistic of 10,514,028 positive cases which sadly increases exponentially daily (WHO, 2020). The first victim of the virus in Nigeria was an Italian man who arrived in the country on 28 February 2020. He was admitted to an Isolation Centre in Yaba Lagos after showing symptoms of the virus (NCDC 2020). Subsequently, the cases increased and almost 228,711 positive cases and 111,665 recuperated persons have been identified (NCDC, 2020).
According to ECDC, the group of viruses is known to cause severe respiratory infection and other diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19. Regencia, Stepansky and Uras (2020) state that a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown aetiology was reported in Wuhan as the causative agent of the novel coronavirus. The outbreak of the pandemic has truly engaged media organisations in reportorial activities since its emergence. Since the outbreak, the media (local and international) have embarked on spates of to keep the public duly informed about the prevalence, fatalities, and preventive measures. Such roles are the hallmarks of the media (Adegbija, Fakomogbon, and Adebayo, 2013).
Knowledge and Perception on Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention Among Health Workers
In Nigeria, the index case of the pandemic was an Italian national who arrived the country on 28th February, 2020 (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control –NCDC, 2020). Subsequently, the virus has continued to spread in the country. In order to curb the spread of the virus, the Federal Government of Nigeria enforced a lockdown of Lagos State (the epicentre of the pandemic), Ogun State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The approach adopted by online newspapers in reporting the pandemic in Nigeria has been met with what most communication researchers termed ‘infodemic’ (Medford, 2020). Also, Kazeem (2020) writes that in the coming days, as Federal and State government in Nigeria intensified efforts to identify and to contain the disease, the government also worried about the spate of misinformation trailing the outbreak. Media firms have adopted measures to satisfy the curiosity of the audience by reporting all trajectories and effects of the pandemic. According to Tayimbe (2020), the virus has at the same time exposed the fecklessness of some political leaders and the incompetence of governments at all levels in the country.
Globally, healthcare workers are at the forefront in the containment of COVID-19 outbreak, diagnosis, and management of infected patients. Unfortunately, healthcare workers had also been the source and means of nosocomial and community transmission. The burden of the disease in both developed and developing countries had worsened the response and management strategies due to inadequate provision of personal protection equipment for healthcare workers, environmental contami- nation, overcrowding, and inadequate provision of proper isolation facilities. Thus, mitigating the increasing number of COVID-19 cases requires the HCWs’ adherence to the recommended measures taken to prevent transmission. These measures are affected mainly by the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) of the frontline workers.
According to World health Organization (2020), COVID-19 is spread by human-to-human through droplets, feco-oral, and direct contact, with an incubation period of 2-14 days. So far, no antiviral treatment or vaccine has been recommended explicitly for COVID-19. Therefore, applying the preventive measure to control COVID-19 infection is the utmost critical intervention Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (2020). Healthcare workers (HCWs) are the primary section in contact with patients and are an important source of exposure to the infected cases in the healthcare settings, thus, expected to be at a high risk of infections.
By the end of January, the WHO and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have published recommendations for the prevention and control of COVID-19 for HCWs Ogbodor and Ekwunife (2020). Indeed, the WHO also initiated several online training sessions and materials on COVID-19 in various languages to strengthen the preventive strategies, including raising awareness, and training HCWs preparedness activities. In several instances, misunderstandings of HCWs delayed controlling efforts to provide necessary treatment, implicate rapid spread of infection in hospitals, and also may put the patients’ lives at risk. In this regard, the COVID-19 epidemic offers a unique opportunity to investigate the level of knowledge, and perceptions of HCWs during this global health crisis. Besides, we also explored the role of different information sources in shaping HCWs knowledge and perceptions on COVID-19 during this peak period.
Knowledge and Perception on Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention Among Health Workers
The transmission of the disease among HCWs is exaggerated by overcrowding, absence of isolation facilities, contaminated environment and is likely enhanced by insufficient knowledge and awareness of infection control practices among HCWs. That inadequate knowledge and the incorrect attitudes among HCWs can directly influence practices and lead to delayed diagnosis, poor infection control practice, and spread of disease
1.2 Statement of the Problem
One of the essential function of health workers in critical situations of health challenges like the novel coronavirus pandemic, is to keep adequate surveillance and protection of the event by regularly providing the public with updated information (Ogbodo, Ekwunife, Ndolo, 2020). The health workers use various available methods and channels to receive information including the patience and other platform to get inform, awareness, educate and sensitize about the pandemic. Information on the transmission and prevention on coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria is empirically lacking. Studies in Nigeria are needed to fill this gap. An attempt to reduce this knowledge gap and provide empirical data for future researches suffices for this study. It is against this backdrop that the study sought to investigate the effect of knowledge and perception on COVID-19 transmission and prevention among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State
1.3 The Objectives of this Study
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge and perception on COVID-19 transmission and prevention among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State. Specifically, the study meant to:
- explore the effect of news framing on coronavirus pandemic by newspaper among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State
- determine the dominant knowledge and perception on coronavirus pandemic among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State
- assess the degree of sensitization of COVID-19 among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to guide the study;
- what is the effect of news framing on coronavirus pandemic report by newspaper among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State
- What are the strategies used by health workers in the 68 Nigerian army reference hospitals, Yaba, Lagos State?
- What is the degree of sensitization of COVID-19 among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospitals, Yaba, Lagos State?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study;
- There is no significant effect of news framing on coronavirus pandemic report by newspaper among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospital, Yaba, Lagos State
- There is no significant effect of strategies used by health workers in the 68 Nigerian army reference hospitals, Yaba, Lagos State?
- There is no significant effect of degree of sensitization of COVID-19 among health workers of 68 Nigerian army reference hospitals, Yaba, Lagos State
Knowledge and Perception on Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention Among Health Workers
