Community-level survey of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preventive measures in Kwara State, Nigeria: good knowledge vs poor attitude

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dc.contributor.authorNusirat Elelu,a Olaolu Bilewu,b Fatima Sanusi,c and Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Mustapha
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-11T13:43:02Z
dc.date.available2024-07-11T13:43:02Z
dc.date.issued2022-07-06
dc.descriptionThe rapid community transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has increased the global incidence of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).1 As of May 19, 2022, there were 525 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 6.29 million reported deaths globally.2 Since Nigeria's index COVID-19 case occurred on February 27, 2020 via an Italian citizen, community transmission of the disease has resulted in its geometrical spread across all the states of the federation.3 As of August 15, 2021, Nigeria has 255 633 confirmed cases with 3 142 deaths.4 Kwara state has recorded 4 630 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 64 COVID-19 associated death. The state accounted for 1.8% of Nigeria's COVID-19 disease burden and 2% of Nigeria's recorded COVID-19 mortality.4 Nigeria's poor COVID-19 testing system, poor healthcare infrastructure, lack of sufficient doses of vaccines,5, 6 and the introduction of novel SARS-CoV-2 strains require health authorities to evaluate several strategies that could curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2.7, 8 One of such strategies is the inclusion of all important stakeholders at the community level in the design of COVID-19 interventions; a strategy globally termed risk communication and community engagement (RCCE). Globally, RCCE is a fundamental component of COVID-19 management and control strategy.9 To standardize the RCCE strategy, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the first RCCE manual in March 2020 and a second edition of the COVID-19 RCCE strategy in December 2020.9 Community Engagement (CE) often enables community ownership of interventions, minimizes sabotage, and improves the outcome of the instituted control measures.10 For example, In April 2020, the Kwara State Governor directed that all the 193 wards in the state should immediately constitute a COVID-19 committee to increase public awareness and knowledge of COVID-19 to curb the community transmission of the disease.11 To further stem the community transmission of the SARS-CoV-2, the government identified and incorporated important stakeholders as part of its COVID-19 management strategy. The Kwara COVID-19 CE strategy was built on the already existing community health programs and disease surveillance mechanisms. It was, therefore, essential to incorporate COVID-19 prevention strategies into broader, long-term strategies to build community resilience to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.12 Furthermore, CE is crucial to achieving universal health coverage through community and people-centered services.13 CE will also support the general public's trust in government, a cardinal pillar necessary to improve uptake of preventive measures and adherence to the social measures as well as acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines.12, 13, 14 An effective COVID-19 CE strategy should improve the risk perception of the general public on COVID-19 through health education on the symptoms of the disease, routes of transmission, as well as prevention and control measures. Hence, this study assessed the knowledge and attitude of the general public at the community level in Kwara State on COVID-19 preventive measures.
dc.description.abstractBackground The public knowledge and adherence to the established coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) precautionary measures are crucial to Nigeria's war against the pandemic. Public health education on its preventive practices at the grassroots level was initially crucial to achieving a lower COVID-19 incidence in Kwara State, Nigeria. Methods We assessed the knowledge of, and adherence to COVID-19 precautionary measures at the community level among 795 respondents from the three senatorial zones of Kwara State. Results 54.5% (433/795) of the respondents were aged between 21 and 40 years, and 45.9% (365/795) of the respondents had a bachelor's degree or higher. Study participants had a good knowledge of COVID-19, its symptoms, and its mode of transmission. 91.8% of the respondents (730/795) had a positive perception of the COVID-19 preventive measures while 96.1% (763/795) of the respondents agreed that maintaining social distance was important in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only 38% (302/795) of them used face masks and only 25.7% (204/795) of the respondents used hand sanitizers. In addition, only 31.9% (253/795) of the respondents isolated themselves when they were ill. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis revealed that education, occupation, gender, and ethnicity were significantly associated with positive COVID-19 preventive practices among residents of Kwara State. Civil servants were more likely (AOR: 3.14; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.67 to 14.82; P = 0.034) to have positive preventive attitudes than other respondents. Study participants with tertiary education and those that were Yoruba (ethnicity) were 14.81 times more likely (95% CI: 4.29 to 51.05; P = 0.001) and 5.19 times more likely (95% CI: 1.82 to 14.84; P = 0.007) to have positive attitudes towards the laid-down COVID-19 preventive measures respectively. Conclusion The poor community adherence to the COVID-19 preventive practices could pre-dispose Kwara to more COVID-19 cases. More community engagement activities are needed to fully curb the spread of the COVID-19. Public health education should focus on preventive measures, vaccine acceptance, and community monitoring of COVID-19. Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Community engagement, Non-pharmaceutical interventions, Kwara State, Nigeria
dc.description.sponsorshipNusirat Elelu,a Olaolu Bilewu,b Fatima Sanusi,c and Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Mustapha
dc.identifier.urihttps://kwasuspace.kwasu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/1513
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/covid-19/
dc.titleCommunity-level survey of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preventive measures in Kwara State, Nigeria: good knowledge vs poor attitude
dc.typeArticle
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