Keywords
Attitude; COVID-19; Knowledge; Perception; University
Abstract
Objectives
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is impacting social, economic and political patterns globally. To contain its spread, Nigeria like many other countries, imposed drastic measures such as lockdown/curfew. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) about COVID-19 pandemic among members of staff of a university community in Nigeria.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey using an anonymous, self-designed, online KAP questionnaire was conducted from April 18 to May 31, 2020. The questionnaire consisted of ten knowledge questions regarding the transmission and prevention of COVID-19. The questions on attitude (15) and perception (10) assessed respondents’ behaviour towards adherence to government policies and views on government efforts to contain the infection respectively.
Results
A total of 125 (teaching) and 102 (non-teaching) staff responded. Approximately 59.1 % of the respondents were males. The mean knowledge and positive attitude levels were 70.8 % (SD ± 9.6 %) and 83.1 % (SD ± 13.07 %) respectively. Significant differences in the knowledge mean scores were observed for demographic categories such as educational qualification (p = 0.0006), staff work category (p = <0.0001), work background (p = <0.0001), and type of lockdown (p = 0.0271). Most of the respondents (85.3 %) opined that COVID-19 was a biological weapon and viewed the lockdown as necessary (81.5 %). However, they thought that the Nigerian government was not doing enough to mitigate COVID-19 spread.
Conclusions
The perception of COVID-19 in the university community bear implications across public health initiatives, compliance with precautionary behaviour and bilateral relations with foreign nations.
References
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25. Berhan Y. Will Africa be devastated by Covid-19 as many predicted? Perspective and Prospective. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2020;30:459-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ejhs.v30i3.17
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28. Coibion O, Gorodnichenko Y, Weber M. The cost of the covid-19 crisis: Lockdowns, macroeconomic expectations, and consumer spending (No. w27141). National Bureau of Economic Research 2020. http://www.nber.org/papers/w27141
29. Yuksel B, Ozgor F. Effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on female sexual behavior. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13193
30. Cocci A, Giunti D, Tonioni C, Cacciamani G, Tellini R, Polloni G, Cito G, Presicce F, Di Mauro M, Mineruini A, Cimino S. Love at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic: Preliminary results of an online survey conducted during the quarantine in Italy. Int J Impot Res. 2020;1-2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-020-0305-x
31. Abdelhafiz AS, Mohammed Z, Ibrahim ME, Ziady HH, Alorabi M, Ayyad M, Sultan EA. Knowledge, perceptions, and attitude of egyptians towards the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). J Community Health 2020; 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00827-7
32. Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, Li Y. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: A quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci. 2020; 16:1745-52. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.45221
33. Blendon RJ, Benson JM, DesRoches CM, Raleigh E, Taylor-Clark K. The public’s response to severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto and the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;38:925-31. https://doi.org/10.1086/382355
2. World Health Organisation. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Report - 166. Available at www.who.int/covid-19/information. Accessed on 05/07/2020.
3. Sohrabi C, Alsafi Z, O’Neill N, Khan M, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, Iosifidis C, Agha R. World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Int J Surg. 2020;76:71-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.02.034
4. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. An update of COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria for Week 27. Available at www.covid19.ncdc.go.ng. Accessed on 05/07/2020.
5. Li C, Yang Y, Ren L. Genetic evolution analysis of 2019 novel coronavirus and coronavirus from other species. Infect Genet Evol. 2020;82:104285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104285
6. Huang C, Wang Y, Li X, Ren L, Zhao J, Hu Y, Zhang L, Fan G, Xu J, Gu X, Cheng Z, Yu T, Xia J, Wei Y, Wu W, Xei X, Yin W, Li H, Cao, B. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet 2020;395:497-506. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5
7. Zetzsche DA. One million or one hundred million casualties? The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on low-and middle-income countries. Social Sci Humanities Open 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3597657
8. Olapegba PO, Ayandele S, Kolawole SO, Oguntayo R, Gandi JC, Dangiwa AL, Ottu IFA, Iorfa SK. A preliminary assessment of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) knowledge and perceptions in Nigeria. Social Sci Humanities Open 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3584408
9. Izah SC, Iniamagha I, Sylva L. Two months of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria: Distribution and responses of the Nigerian media. Epidemiol Int. 2020;5:32-44. https://doi.org/10.24321/2455.7048.202015
10. Morganstein JC, Ursano RJ. Ecological disasters and mental health: causes, consequences, and interventions. Front Psychiat. 2020; 11:1. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00001
o 11. Fiorillo A, Gorwood P. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and implications for clinical practice. Eur Psychiat. 2020;63:1-2. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.35
12. Roy D, Tripathy S, Kar SK, Sharma N, Verma SK, Kaushal V. Study of knowledge, attitude, anxiety and perceived mental healthcare need in Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian J Psychiat. 2020;102083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102083
13. Richards P. Ebola: How a people's science helped end an epidemic. London: Zed Books 2017.
14. Al-Hanawi MK, Angawi K, Alshareef N, Qattan AMN, Helmy HZ, Abudawood Y, Alqurashi M, Kattan WM, Kadasah NA, Chirwa GC, Alsharqi O. Knowledge, attitude and practice toward COVID-19 among the public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study. Front Public Health 2020;8:217. doi: 10:3389/fpubh.2020.00217
15. Geldsetzer P. Use of rapid online surveys to assess people's perceptions during infectious disease outbreaks: a cross-sectional survey on COVID-19. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(4):e18790. doi: 10.2196/18790
16. Isere EE, Fatiregun AA, Ajayi IO. An overview of disease surveillance and notification system in Nigeria and the roles of clinicians in disease outbreak prevention and control. Niger Med J. 2015;56:161-8. doi: 10.4103/0300-1652.160347
17. Brug J, Aro AR, Oenema A, de Zwart O, Richardus JH, Bishop GD. SARS risk perception, knowledge, precautions and information sources, the Netherlands. Emerg Infect Dis. 2004;10: 1486-9. doi: 10.3201/eid1008.040283
18. Choi JS, Yang NY. Perceived knowledge, attitude, and compliance with preventive behavior on influenza A (H1N1) by university students. J Korean Acad Adult Nurs. 2010;22: 250-9.
19. Hussain ZA, Hussain SA, Hussain FA. Medical students' knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions towards the H1N1 influenza, swine flu in Pakistan: a brief report. Am J Infect Control 2012;40:e11-e13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2011.12.004
20. Olaseni AO, Akinsola OS, Agberotimi SF, Oguntayo R. Psychological distress experiences of Nigerians amid COVID-19 pandemic. Social Sci Humanities Open 2020. SSHO-D-20-00416. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3596106
21. Goumenou M, Spandidos DA, Tsatsakis A. Possibility of transmission through dogs being a contributing factor to the extreme Covid 19 outbreak in North Italy. Mol Med Rep. 2020;21(6):2293-5. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2020.11037
22. Lau JTF, Yang X, Tsui H, Kim JH. Monitoring community responses to the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong: from day 10 to day 62. J Epidemiol Commun H. 2003;57: 864-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.57.11.864
23. Vartti AM, Oenema A, Schreck M, Uutela A, de Zwart O, Brug, J, Aro AR. SARS knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors: A comparison between Finns and the Dutch during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Int J Behav Med. 2009;16:41-8. doi: 10.1007/s12529-008-9004-6
24. Voeten H, de Zwart O, Veldhuijzen IK, Yuen C, Jiang X, Elam G, Abraham T, Brug J. Sources of information and health beliefs related to SARS and Avian influenza among Chinese communities in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, compared to the general population in these countries. Int J Behav Med. 2009;16:49-57. doi: 10.1007/s12529-008-9006-4
25. Berhan Y. Will Africa be devastated by Covid-19 as many predicted? Perspective and Prospective. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2020;30:459-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ejhs.v30i3.17
26. Otitoloju AA, Okafor IP, Fasona M, Bawa-Allah KA, Isanbor C, Onyeka CS, Folarin OS, Adubi TO, Sogbanmu TO, Ogbeibu AE. COVID-19 pandemic: examining the faces of spatial differences in the morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and USA. MedRxiv 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.20.20072322
27. Nicola M, Alsafi Z, Sohrabi C, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, Iosifidis C, Agha M, Agha R. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic: a review. Int J Surg. 2020;78:185-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018
28. Coibion O, Gorodnichenko Y, Weber M. The cost of the covid-19 crisis: Lockdowns, macroeconomic expectations, and consumer spending (No. w27141). National Bureau of Economic Research 2020. http://www.nber.org/papers/w27141
29. Yuksel B, Ozgor F. Effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on female sexual behavior. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13193
30. Cocci A, Giunti D, Tonioni C, Cacciamani G, Tellini R, Polloni G, Cito G, Presicce F, Di Mauro M, Mineruini A, Cimino S. Love at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic: Preliminary results of an online survey conducted during the quarantine in Italy. Int J Impot Res. 2020;1-2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-020-0305-x
31. Abdelhafiz AS, Mohammed Z, Ibrahim ME, Ziady HH, Alorabi M, Ayyad M, Sultan EA. Knowledge, perceptions, and attitude of egyptians towards the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). J Community Health 2020; 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00827-7
32. Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, Li Y. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: A quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci. 2020; 16:1745-52. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.45221
33. Blendon RJ, Benson JM, DesRoches CM, Raleigh E, Taylor-Clark K. The public’s response to severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto and the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;38:925-31. https://doi.org/10.1086/382355