Keywords
COVID-19, General Practice Clinic, Precautionary measures, Primary care worker, Risk perception.
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The world is currently faced with another pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic, with healthcare workers at high risk of contracting infection. This study assessed the risk perception of COVID-19 and practice of precautionary measures against its spread by primary care workers.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of primary care workers in the General Practice Clinic (GPC) of University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa. A pretested self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was employed to obtain data on Socio-demographic characteristics, Risk perception of COVID-19, and Practice of precautionary measures from the respondents. Obtained data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.0 (Chicago, IL, USA). Chi-square test, Ordinal regression analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee.
Results: More of the respondents (39.6%) had moderate risk perception of COVID-19, with significantly more females (27.8%) having high risk perception than males (11.9%); p=0.001. Majority (76.0%) of the respondents had good practice of precautionary measures against COVID-19.
Conclusions: Most HCWs surveyed in this study had moderate-risk perception of COVID-19 and good practice of precautionary measures. Occupation and length of practice were significant predictors of practice of precautionary measures. Training on Infection Prevention and Control measures against COVID-19 was significantly associated with reduced odds of high-risk perception of COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, General Practice Clinic, Precautionary measures, Primary care worker, Risk perception.
References
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35. Chu DK, Akl EA, Duda S, Solo K, Yaacoub S, Schünemann HJ, et al. Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2020;395(10242):1973–87. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31142-9.
2. World Health Organization. Q&A on Coronaviruses (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses. Accessed September 17, 2020.
3. World Health Organization. WHO Timeline-COVID-19. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19. Accessed September 18, 2020.
4. World Health Organization. COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) Global research and innovation forum. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/covid-19-public-health-emergency-of-international-concern-(pheic)-global-research-and-innovation-forum. Accessed September 19, 2020.
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6. Nkengasong JN, Mankoula W. Looming threat of COVID-19 infection in Africa: act collectively, and fast. Lancet. 2020; 395(10227): 841-42.
7. Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.First case of CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) confirmed in Nigeria. Available from https://ncdc.gov.ng/news/227/first-case-of-corona-virus-disease-confirmed-in-nigeria. Accessed on September 20, 2020.
8. Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, Wang X, Zhou L, Tong Y, et al. Early transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China, of novel coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia. N Engl J Med.2020; 382(13):1199-1207.
9. Zhong B-L, Luo W, Li H-M, Zhang Q-Q, Liu X-G, Li W-T, et al. 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(10):1745-52.
10. Enabulele O. COVID-19 in Africa. Presented at the Virtual Annual General and Scientific Conference (Webinar-6) of the Indian Medical Association, Tamilnadu State Branch College of General Practitioners. Tamilnadu, India. August 6, 2020. (Personal communication).
11. Enabulele O. The COVID-19 situation in the Commonwealth and the role of the Commonwealth Medical Association. Presented at the Virtual 60th Annual General Meeting (Webinar) of the Malaysian Medical Association. Malaysia. September 6, 2020. (Personal communication).
12. Enabulele O. The Commonwealth Health Workforce and COVID-19 Pandemic. An opening address presented by the President of the Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) at the 2nd COVID-19 virtual conference (webinar) organized by the Commonwealth Medical Association. September 3, 2020. (Personal communication).
13. Amnesty International. Global: Amnesty analysis reveals over 7, 000 health workers have died from COVID-19. Cited September 03, 2020. Available from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/amnesty-analysis-7000-health-workers-have-died-from-covid19/. Accessed January 4, 2021.
14. WHO Africa. Combatting health infections in Nigeria. Cited September 10, 2020. Available from https://www.afro.who.int/news/combatting-health-worker-infections-nigeria. Accessed January 04, 2021.
15. Chou R, Dana T, Buckley DI, Selph S, Fu R, Totten AM. Epidemiology of and Risk Factors for Coronavirus Infection in Health Care Workers: A Living Rapid Review. Ann Intern Med. 2020;173(2):120-36. doi:10.7326/M20-1632.
16. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. COVID-19 clusters and outbreaks in occupational settings in the EU/EEA and the UK. 2020. Available from https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/covid-19-clusters-and-outbreaks-occupational-settings-eueea-and-uk. Accessed January 6, 2021.
17. Mutambudzi M, Niedzwiedz CL, Macdonald EB, Leyland AH, Mair FS, Anderson JJ, et al. Occupation and risk of severe COVID-19: prospective cohort study of 120, 075 UK Biobank participants. Occup Environ Med. 2020; 0:1-8. Doi:10.1136/oemed-2020-106731.
18. Nguyen LH, Drew DA, Graham MS, Joshi AD, Mehta RS, Warner ET, et al. Risk of COVID-19 among front-line health-care workers and the general community: a prospective cohort study. THE LANCET Public Health. 2020;5(9): E475-E483.
19. Burki T. Global shortage of personal protective equipment. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20(7):785-6.
20. Kua J, Patel R, Nurmi E, Tian S, Gill H, Moorley C, et al. healthcareCOVID: A national cross-sectional observational study identifying risk factors for developing suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in UK healthcare workers.medRxiv preprint. September 1, 2020. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.28.20182295. Available from https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.28.20182295v1. Accessed January 6, 2021.
21. Zhang Z, Liu S, Xiang M, Li S, Zhao D, Huang C, et al. Protecting healthcare personnel from 2019-nCoV infection risks: lessons and suggestions. Front Med. 2020; 14:229-31. doi:10.1007/s11684-020-0765-x.
22. Shah ASV, Wood R, Gribben C, Caldwell D, Bishop J, Weir A, et al. Risk of hospital admission with coronavirus disease 2019 in healthcare workers and their households: nationwide linkage cohort study. BMJ 2020; 371:m3582. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3582.
23. Liu Q, Luo D, Haase JE, Guo Q, Wang XQ, Liu S, et al. The experiences of health-care providers during the COVID-19 crisis in China: a qualitative study. Lancet Glob Health. 2020; 8: e790-8. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30204-7.
24. Serwaa D, Lamptey E, Appiah AB, Senkyire EK, Ameyaw JK. Knowledge, risk perception and preparedness towards coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak among Ghanaians: a quick online cross-sectional survey. Pan Afr Med J. 2020;35(2):44.
25. Peres D, Monteiro J, Almeida MA, Ladeira R. Risk perception of COVID-19 among Portuguese healthcare professionals and the general population. J Hosp Infect. 2020;105(3):434–7.
26. Jin JM, Bai P, He W, Wu F, Liu XF, Han DM, et al. Gender Differences in Patients With COVID-19: Focus on Severity and Mortality. Front. Public Health. 2020; 8:152. Doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00152.
27. Oyeyemi O, Oladoyin V, Okunlola O, Mosobalaje A, Oyeyemi I, Adebimpe W, et al. COVID-19 pandemic: Nigerians’ knowledge, perception and adherence to preventive measures. Research Square. Preprint. July 29, 2020. Doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-49707/v1.
28. Onder G, Rezza G, Brusaferro S. Case-Fatality Rate and Characteristics of Patients Dying in Relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA. 2020; 323(18): 1775-6. Doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4683.
29. Obaseki DE, Akoria OA, Mokogwu N, Omuemu CE, Okwara BU, Ogboghodo EO. Staff risks stratification in preparation for COVID-19 in a tertiary healthcare facility in Nigeria. Pan Afr Med J. 2020;35(2):124.
30. Dryhurst S, Schneider CR, Kerr J, Freeman ALJ, Recchia G, van der Bles AM, et al. Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world. Journal of Risk Research. 2020; 23(7-8):994-1006. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2020.1758193.
31. Olum R, Chekwech G, Wekha G, Nassozi DR, Bongomin F. Coronavirus Disease-2019: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Health Care Workers at Makerere University Teaching Hospitals, Uganda. Front Public Health. 2020; 8:181.
32. Alfahan A, Alhabib S, Abdulmajeed I, Rahman S, Bamuhair S. In the era of corona virus: health care professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and practice of hand hygiene in Saudi primary care centers: a cross-sectional study. J Community Hosp Intern Med Perspect. 2016;6(4):32151. Doi: https://doi.org/10.3402/jchimp.v6.32151.
33. Raab M, Pfadenhauer LM, Millimouno TJ, Hoelscher M, Froeschl G. Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards viral haemorrhagic fevers amongst healthcare workers in urban and rural public healthcare facilities in the N’zérékoré prefecture, Guinea: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20(1):296. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8433-2.
34. Sessa A, Di Giuseppe G, Albano L, Angelillo IF. An Investigation of Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Disinfection Procedures in Italy. BMC Infect Dis. 2011;11(1):148. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-11-148.
35. Chu DK, Akl EA, Duda S, Solo K, Yaacoub S, Schünemann HJ, et al. Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2020;395(10242):1973–87. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31142-9.