scholarly journals Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Coronavirus Disease Among Patients Visiting Eye Hospitals of Province Number 2, Nepal

2021 ◽  
pp. 101053952110146
Author(s):  
Ranjan Shah ◽  
Sailesh Kumar Mishra ◽  
Nisha Jha ◽  
Pathiyil Ravi Shankar ◽  
Shital Bhandary ◽  
...  

The present study aims to explore knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 and level of satisfaction with efforts to halt the further spread of the disease among patients visiting eye hospitals in province number 2, Nepal. All eligible patients (n = 1112) presenting during the study period were interviewed using a validated semistructured questionnaire. The level of awareness was significantly associated with educational attainment and district of residence. Different myths and misconceptions regarding COVID-19 were prevalent. Preventive practices against the pandemic were observed by less than 50% of the participants and it varied significantly by education and the district of residence. Health education and behavior change communication (BCC) campaigns are necessary in the eye hospitals in province 2 to improve the knowledge level, address prevailing negative attitudes, and promote preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies in eye hospitals in other provinces in Nepal are required.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Stephen Dajaan Dubik ◽  
Kingsley E. Amegah ◽  
Alhassan S. Adam

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant challenges to Ghana’s education system, leading to the closure of schools for months. On 31 May 2020, the government of Ghana took a bold decision based on expert advice to reopen schools for final-year students amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, data for students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 are limited. We sought to investigate students’ level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 at Tamale Technical Institute, Ghana. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 175 final-year students from June to August 2020. A validated questionnaire adapted from previous studies was distributed to the students in their various classes by the researchers. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and multivariate logistic regression. All analyses were significant at a p value of less than 0.05. Results. The mean age of the study participants was 21.1 years (SD = 2.67), with more males (72.0%) than females participating in the study. The majority (69.7%) of the students trust traditional media sources, i.e., television and radio to receive COVID-19-related information. Awareness about COVID-19 was high (98.3%), and in total, 62.9% (n = 110) had good knowledge, 58.3% (n = 102) had positive attitudes, and 54.9% (n = 96) had good practices towards COVID-19. Factors associated with knowledge were receiving education on COVID-19 (AOR = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.55) and mother level of education (AOR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.66). Positive attitudes towards COVID-19 were 63% less likely among students who did not receive education on COVID-19 (AOR = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.90). Students who received education on COVID-19 exhibited good practice towards COVID-19 than students who did not receive education on COVID-19 (p = 0.014). Conclusion. Final-year students of Tamale Technical Institute possess good knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19. Our findings demonstrate the significant role of health education in improving students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19. We recommend continuous and targeted health education to mitigate the widespread misconceptions about COVID-19 through the use of traditional media such as television and radio.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
A. M. Hoque ◽  
A. M. Alam ◽  
M. Hoque ◽  
M. E. Hoque ◽  
G. Van Hal

COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people globally. Several preventive measures have been recommended to reduce the spread of the disease. However, the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of these preventive measures among pregnant women, are yet to be evaluated in South Africa. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the KAP towards COVID-19 among pregnant women. The purpose was to identify KAP gaps of pregnant women and develop educational materials and implement programmes. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was undertaken. Student’s t-test, ANOVA test, Pearson’s correlation test and Binary logistic regression analysis was carried out. Majority of the respondents were single (71%), unemployed (52%), and had low education (78% had either no or less than 12 years education). More than half (51.2%) had vulnerable comorbidities for COVID-19 infection and complication. Both knowledge and attitude mean of pregnant women were found to be low at 43.5% and 30% respectively. However, their practice on prevention of COVID-19 was good at 76%. Knowledge was found to be significantly positively correlated with practice towards COVID-19 (r= 0.111). Women having good knowledge were seven times more likely to practice positively regarding COVID-19 (P=0.019). Women having 1-5 years of education were 94% less likely to practice good towards COVID-19 prevention (P=0.018) compared to those having post matric education. The pregnant women in this research had inadequate knowledge and attitude of COVID-19 infection. However, preventive practices were good among them. Mass education and communication strategies are thus required to improve the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women towards COVID-19.


BJS Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eddy Lincango-Naranjo ◽  
Paola Solis-Pazmino ◽  
Eddy Lincango-Naranjo

Abstract Introduction As new coronavirus has spread globally, economic instability in healthcare systems has been significant. This reality is especially accentuated in Ecuador where, the shortage of healthcare workers combined with cultural and macroeconomic factors have led it to face the most aggressive outbreak in Latin America. In this context, the participation of medical students on the front line is indispensable. Appropriate training on COVID-19 is an urgent need that universities and health systems must guarantee. We aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices in Ecuadorian final year medical students in order to identify the knowledge gaps, perceptions and behavior patterns which could guide the desig3n of better medical education curricula regarding COVID-19. Methods This descriptive 33-item online survey conducted between April 6 to April 20 sent by email and by Facebook and WhatsApp. Results 309 students responded to the survey. 88% scored high (≥ 70% correct) for knowledge of the disease. The majority of students were pessimistic about possible government actions, which is reflected in the negative attitude towards the control of COVID19 in Ecuador and volunteering during the outbreak (77%, and 58% of the students, respectively). Moreover, 91% of students said they did not have adequate protective equipment or training in their health facilities. Conclusions Ecuador has a capable upcoming workforce that could benefit from an opportunity to strengthen, improve and advance their training in preparation for COVID-19. Creating a national curriculum may be one of the most effective ways for all students to be trained, while simultaneously focusing on the students’ most pressing concerns.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tria Astika Endah Permatasari ◽  
Fauza Rizqiya ◽  
Walliyana Kusumaningati ◽  
Inne Indraaryani Suryaalamsah ◽  
Zahrofa Hermiwahyoeni

Abstract Background Almost one-third of children under 5 years old in Indonesia suffer from stunting. Stunting can be prevented optimally during pregnancy as the initial phase of the first 1000 days of life. This study aims to determine the effect of nutrition and reproductive health education of pregnant women in Bogor Regency, Indonesia. Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 194 pregnant women from August to November 2019. The pregnant women were randomly selected from four different villages in Bogor Regency. The intervention group (n = 97) received 2 h of nutrition and reproductive health education in small groups (four or five mothers per group) every 2 weeks for 3 consecutive months. This interactive education was given by facilitators using techniques such as lectures, role-playing, simulation, and games. The control group (n = 97) received regular health care services. A structured questionnaire was applied to collect data consisting of maternal characteristics, nutritional and reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the intervention and control groups. Data were analysed using t-test and chi-square analysis. Results Pregnant women in the intervention group indicated a significant increase in knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding nutrition and reproductive health after receiving education. The pre-test and post-test mean scores in the intervention group were 55.1 and 83.1 for overall knowledge, 40.2 and 49.0 for attitudes, and 36.2 and 40.2 for practices, respectively. In the control group, there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores for these three variables. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the post-test mean between the intervention group and the control group, but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05) in the pre-test. Conclusion Providing nutrition and reproductive health education through small groups with interactive methods improves the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of pregnant women. This intervention has the potential to be replicated and developed for large-scale implementation by optimising collaboration between government, non-governmental organizations, and maternal and child health service providers.


Author(s):  
Tidiane Diallo ◽  
Adama Denou ◽  
BF Coulibaly ◽  
Blaise Dakouo ◽  
B Coulibaly ◽  
...  

Goal: The objective of our study was to assess the evolution of the knowledge and behavior of pharmacy pharmacists in the fight against malaria with a view to involving officer's pharmacists in the fight against malaria.Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study that took place in two phases in the private dispensaries of the Bamako district of Mali. The first phase of the study (initial investigation) took place from April to May 2014 and covered 55 pharmacists from communes III and VI in Bamako. The second phase (monitoring) took place from November 2014 to November 2015, after training of all dispensary pharmacists in the Bamako district in accordance with the PNLP guidelines, which concerned all pharmacists in the Bamako district.Result: This revealed that some indicators are significantly improved: possession of a national policy document; Knowledge of drugs recommended for simple malaria; Practice and sale of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria. Other indicators have increased: availability of ACTs; Sale of insecticide-treated mosquito nets; Behavior before a suspicion of simple malaria; Behavior before suspicion of severe malaria.Conclusion: Thus, an involvement of officer pharmacists in malaria epidemiological surveillance can significantly reduce malaria morbidity and mortality. We recommend to the pharmacists the dispensation of the antimalaria ones according to the recommendations of the national program of fight against the malaria.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2426
Author(s):  
Ruth Charles Shapu ◽  
Suriani Ismail ◽  
Norliza Ahmad ◽  
Poh Ying Lim ◽  
Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi

Adolescence is a phase in the life cycle of human beings. Adequate knowledge, attitudes and practices towards malnutrition are necessary for proper growth and development and for their future children. This systematic review aimed to determine the effect of health education intervention to improve the knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescents on malnutrition. PubMed, Scopus, clinical trials, CINAHL, SAGE, Science Direct and Medline were searched according to Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meat-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to identified published studies from January 2013 to December 2019 based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of eight studies were included in this review. Data extraction was done based on randomized controlled trial only. Three out of the eight studies had low risk of bias, the overall evidence of the study was moderate. Findings from this study suggest that health education intervention among adolescents have significantly improved their knowledge, attitudes and practices. More specific interventions should be conducted in low and middle income countries since they bear more of the burden of malnutrition globally.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Prerna Bansal ◽  
Dipendra Khatiwada ◽  
Hari Prasad Upadhyay

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide and sixth leading cause of death in Nepal. Preventing new infections of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is crucial to reduce TB burden and death. The source of infection is an open (sputum positive) case of pulmonary tuberculosis. Poor management of TB-related waste like disposal of sputum by patients has been reported as a risk factor for increasing susceptibility to active TB infection. The present study was undertaken to assess preventive measures practiced by TB patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 82 tuberculosis patients who visited the five different DOTs centres of Bharatpur Municipality of Chitwan district, Nepal during December 2016 to February 2017. To find the association between variables, chi-square test was used. P-value less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.  Results: The Mean ± SD of age of patients was 37.02±18.90 years. 67.10% of the patients received health education on preventive measures. 59.8% of the respondents had good practice on prevention measures of TB. Only 3.70% used burning method for the sputum disposal after diagnosis of TB. None of the respondents used boiling method for the disposal of sputum. Among all only 6% practiced safe method of sputum disposal. The statistically significant variables with health education were preventive measures like self isolation (ᵪ2 = 7.54, p = 0.006), covering face while coughing and sneezing (ᵪ2 = 4.113, p = 0.043) and keeping surrounding clean (ᵪ2= 7.880, p = 0.005).  Conclusions: Patients and family members should be well educated on practicing different preventive measures by further strengthening the preventive measures strategy in the transmission of tuberculosis if we envisioned to end TB by 2035.


2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (33) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iro Evlampidou ◽  
Kostas Danis ◽  
Annick Lenglet ◽  
Maria Tseroni ◽  
Yorgos Theocharopoulos ◽  
...  

Following re-emergence of malaria in Evrotas, Laconia, in 2009–12, a malaria-control programme was implemented in 2011–12 targeting migrants from malaria-endemic countries, including house-to-house active case detection, health education and distribution of mosquito protection items. In June 2013, we surveyed migrants in Evrotas to assess their malaria knowledge, attitudes and practices to guide prevention activities. We selected participants using simple random sampling and interviewed them, using structured questionnaires. We defined mosquito protection practices (MPPs) as the use of full-length clothes/topical repellent, mosquito screens, fans or air-conditioning, and insecticides. We calculated prevalence ratios (PRs) using Poisson regression and we allowed for clustering of participants in a residence. Of 654 migrants, we invited 132 and 130 participated (all men; 120 (92%) from Pakistan). Of the 130, 56 (43%) identified fever as a malaria symptom; those who were aware of this had higher level of education (PR: 3.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2–9.0). A total of 111 (85%) used insecticide-treated bednets and 95 (73%) used more than two MPPs. Poor housing conditions (warehouses/shacks: PR: 0.8; 95% CI: 0.6–0.9), were associated with use of up to two MPPs. Despite extensive interventions in Evrotas, the level of malaria awareness among migrants remained suboptimal and poor housing conditions hindered effective mosquito protection. We recommend culturally adapted health education and improvement of housing conditions to minimise the risk of new cases and re-establishment of malaria in Greece.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-73
Author(s):  
A. M. Hoque ◽  
S. Buckus ◽  
M. Hoque ◽  
A. B. M. Mahbub Alam ◽  
M. E. Hoque ◽  
...  

There is no proven specific treatment or adequate vaccination roll out against COVID-19 infection in South Africa. Optimal infection control measures encompass primary intervention to minimize the spread of COVID-19. Public knowledge, attitude, and practices of dealing with this highly infectious respiratory disease play a vital role in limiting the spread of the infection. Aim was to identify knowledge, attitudes, and practices gaps on COVID-19 pandemic for possible health education intervention. The objectives were to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of out-patients attending a primary health care facility. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted. The Student’s t-test and ANOVA test were carried out to determine the different mean scores for knowledge, attitudes and practices. Pearson’s correlation test was conducted to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and practices scores. Binary logistic regression was undertaken to determine the predictor of good knowledge, positive attitude, and preventive practices. A total of 345 out-patient attendees participated of which 51% were male. Over half (52%) of respondents were evaluated as having good knowledge, 59% as having positive attitudes and almost all (95%) were practicing prevention of COVID-19. The knowledge of the respondent was correlated with preventive practices (r=.173, p<0.05). Multiple regression showed that respondents in the age groups 35-44 years and 45-54 years were 2.8 times and 5.7 times more likely to have good knowledge respectively. Non-smokers were 79% less likely to have good knowledge (OR=.219, p<0.05). Respondents with no comorbidity were 50% less likely to have good knowledge (OR=.503, p <0.05), when compared to those having co-morbidities. Respondents with the highest level of education was found to be positive predictor of positive attitudes (OR =7.3, p <0.05). Primary Health Care users have poor knowledge, negative attitudes but practiced properly for the prevention of the transmission of COVID-19. Mass education is required to educate communities to improve knowledge and attitudes on COVID-19 epidemic in SA.


Author(s):  
Stephen A. Spencer ◽  
Emmanuel H. Andriamasy ◽  
Cortland Linder ◽  
James M. StJ. Penney ◽  
Jemima Henstridge-Blows ◽  
...  

Schistosomiasis control requires multisectoral approaches including praziquantel treatment, access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, and health education. Community input can help ensure health education programs are culturally appropriate to effectively direct protective behavior change. This study reports on the three-stage development of an education program for Malagasy children, with an impact evaluation on their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to intestinal schistosomiasis. A cross-sectional study took place in 2017 with follow-up in 2018 in the hard-to-reach Marolambo district, Madagascar. A novel schistosomiasis education program (SEP) was designed in collaboration with researchers, stakeholders, and local community and included cartoon books, games, songs, puzzles, and blackboard lessons, costing $10 USD per school. KAP questionnaires were completed by 286 children pre-SEP and 273 children post-SEP in 2017, and by 385 and 337 children pre-SEP and post-SEP, respectively, in 2018. Improvements were observed in responses to all questions between pre- and post-education answers in 2017 (53–77%, P < 0.0001) and 2018 (72–98%, P < 0.0001) and in the pre-education answers between years (53–72%, P < 0.0001). Praziquantel mass drug administration attendance improved, rising from 64% to 91% (P < 0.0001), alongside improved latrine use, from 89% to 96% (P = 0.005). This community-consulted and -engaged SEP resulted in substantial improvements in children’s understanding of schistosomiasis, with improvements in praziquantel uptake and latrine use. Socioculturally tailored education programs can help gain schistosomiasis control. Continued investment in SEP will help promote the future well-being of children through increased participation in control and treatment activities.


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