ABSTRACT
Background: 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.
ABSTRACT
Background:The public knowledge and adherence to the established coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pre-cautionary 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 symp-toms,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,occu-pation,gender,and ethnicity were significantly associated with positive COVID-19 preventive practices among residents of Kwara State.Civil servants were more likely(A OR: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 educa-tion 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 CO VID-19.Public health education should focus on preventive measures,vaccine acceptance,and community monitoring of COVID-19.