Infection and Drug Resistance (Jan 2022)
Assessment of COVID-19 Preventive Practice and Associated Factors Among Educators in Vietnam
Abstract
Pham Le An,1,2 Giao Huynh,3 Han Thi Ngoc Nguyen,4 Pham Duong Uyen Binh,5,6 Tam Thao Tuyet Tran,1 Tuong Vy Nguyen,2 Huong Thi Thu Vu,3 Tuan Diep Tran7 1Family Medicine Training Center, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 2Grant and Innovation Center, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 3Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 4Infection Control Department, University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 5Department of Educational Quality Assurance, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 6Graduate School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan; 7Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamCorrespondence: Giao HuynhFaculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, 217 Hong Bang, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tel +84 90 860 8338, Email [email protected]: Educators play a critical role in offering knowledge that is vital to preventing the spread of the COVID-19 in educational settings. This study aims to assess the proportion of preventive practices towards COVID-19 and associated factors among educators in Vietnam.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on educators at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City (UMP) using a self-administered questionnaire between June and August 2020. Online surveys and a multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to determine factors associated with practices. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were performed using Stata 14.Results: A total of 779 eligible participants were approached, most of them under 50 years (84.1%), around three-fifth were female (61.0%) and lecturers (61.1%), with only 38.1% of them working at hospitals. Overall, the majority of participants had good preventive practices towards COVID-19 (88.6%). Factors identified as being associated with good practices included participants who are lecturers (AOR 1.8, 95% CI: 1.05– 2.97), attending training courses related to COVID-19 (AOR 1.7, 95% CI: 1.05– 2.87), working at hospitals (AOR 2.5, 95% CI: 1.28– 4.76) and having a higher level of knowledge and attitude relating to COVID-19 (AOR 2.8, 95% CI: 1.52– 5.17; AOR 2.8, 95% CI: 1.70– 4.48, respectively) (all p < 0.05).Conclusion: These findings revealed that most educators reported a good level of preventive practices towards COVID-19. However, lower levels of practices still exist towards COVID-19 among participants who were administrative staff and have less access to training courses related to COVID-19, who reported that they did not work at the hospital and had a lower level of knowledge and attitude related to COVID-19. Because of the important role of educators in the education system, this study is expected to help education and health authorities implement suitable interventions to fill the gaps in practices between educators.Keywords: COVID-19, knowledge, attitude, practice, educator, Vietnam
