An appraisal of knowledge, attitude and practices of anganwadi workers under integrated child development services scheme on infection prevention and control in the initial months of COVID-19 pandemic in District Lucknow, UP, India

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Anganwadi workers (AWWs) were repositioned for community support, community surveillance, community awareness on infection prevention and mitigating stigma/discrimination entailing infection, going door to door. The job entailed good knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) with regard to infection prevention and control (IPC). Aims: To assess the KAP of AWW with regard to IPC in context of COVID-19 in Lucknow district. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using Google form between 30 June and 28 July 2020. AWWs were recruited from Lucknow district irrespective of their training status; data analysis was done on 137 participants. The mean KAP score was calculated and student t-test was applied. Chi-square test was performed between categorical variables and KAP. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was applied between independent and dependent variables. Results: The mean score of knowledge was 7.22 ± 2.64, attitude was 4.34 ± 1.14 and practice was 4.44 ± 1.11. There was a significant difference between good and poor score for KAP. Participants with older age, good knowledge and attitude scores were more likely to have good practices. Conclusion: AWWs had good attitude and practices, but lacked adequate knowledge on IPC measures. Ensuring training for AWW on IPC is important.

Keywords

• anganwadi workers
• coronavirus
• integrated child development services
• infection prevention and control
• knowledge
• attitude and practices