Infection and Drug Resistance (Oct 2020)

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Pandemic Among Quarantined Adults in Tigrai Region, Ethiopia

  • Haftom M,
  • Petrucka P,
  • Gemechu K,
  • Mamo H,
  • Tsegay T,
  • Amare E,
  • Kahsay H,
  • Gebremariam A

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 3727 – 3737

Abstract

Read online

Mekonnen Haftom,1 Pammla Petrucka,2 Kbrom Gemechu,1,3 Haftamu Mamo,3,4 Tesfay Tsegay,1,5 Embay Amare,4 Hayelom Kahsay,5 Alem Gebremariam4 1Department of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Adigrat University, Adigrat, Ethiopia; 2College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada; 3Department of Psychiatric Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Adigrat University, Adigrat, Ethiopia; 4School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Adigrat University, Adigrat, Ethiopia; 5School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Adigrat University, Adigrat, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mekonnen Haftom Email [email protected]: With the onset of any novel condition, it is the “first” case identified that brings attention and sets into motion the machinery to respond – so it began with a first novel pneumonia case of unknown origin in Wuhan, China. Currently, the World Health Organization has declared SARS-CoV-2 (more commonly known as COVID-19) a public health emergency of international concern. It is projected that the path of COVID-19 could kill 50– 80 million people and impacts the world’s economy in its devastating global sweep. The surge is increasing on global and national levels, causing rapid loss of life, joblessness, deterioration of the healthcare systems, and both national and global economies. In Ethiopia, the first COVID-19 case was reported in March. Since then, the government has been taking different measures to prevent its spread. Locking down all schools, declared social distancing and hand hygiene, and restricting large gatherings were some of the Ethiopian government’s actions.Objective: To determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 pandemic among quarantined adults in Tigrai region, Ethiopia.Methods: A total of 331 participants selected using a systematic random sampling method were included in the study. We used an interviewer-administered questionnaire. After describing the variables using frequencies, means, and standard deviations, multivariable logistic regression determined factors associated with knowledge and chi-squared tests for attitudes and practices towards COVID-19.Results: The study participants were primarily males (70%) and mean age 30.5 (SD=11) years. The mean knowledge score was 8.73 (SD=2.64), with less than half 42.9% (95% CI: 37.5– 48%) of the study participants were knowledgeable. Regarding the attitude questions, three-fourths of the participants believed that Ethiopia will control and win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly one-third of the participants replied that the Ethiopian government is handling this pandemic health crisis well. About half of the study participants reported that they had gone to crowded places in recent days, did not wear face mask when leaving home, and practiced preventive measures given by local health authorities. Knowledge score was statistically significantly associated with gender, age, and educational status of the study participants, whereas attitude and practices were significantly associated with educational status and knowledge of participants.Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practice, quarantine, COVID-19, Ethiopia

Keywords