A Survey on the Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors and Influencing Factors of Caregivers for Newborns With COVID-19 in Chongqing, China.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the healthcare knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of primary caregivers of newborns with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the pandemic in Chongqing, China, and analyze the influencing factors. METHODS:  The study included primary caregivers of COVID-19 newborns hospitalized in our institution from December 2022 to January 2023. A questionnaire survey was initiated to assess the caregivers' health-care knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors for COVID-19 and the influencing factors. The data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: A total of 195 caregivers were included, one for each infant with COVID-19. The questionnaire consisted of three dimensions. For the knowledge dimension, the top scoring items were wearing masks in public spaces (4.92 ± 0.087), strengthening hand hygiene (4.83 ± 0.164), and frequent ventilation in living environment (4.62 ± 0.331) in order; for the attitude dimension, the top three scoring items were wearing masks in public spaces (4.85 ± 0.353), strengthening hand washing and disinfection (4.72 ± 0.450), and regular ventilation (4.49 ± 0.501). For the behavior dimension, the top three were confidence in winning the challenge of the pandemic (4.71 ± 0.480), standardized wearing of masks in public spaces/confined spaces (4.68 ± 0.589), and high satisfaction with community epidemic prevention measures (4.67 ± 0.496). Among the influencing factors, fear of COVID-19 was the independent risk indicator for the caregivers' anxiety (OR = 38.085, 95% CI = 14.383-100.664) and fear of COVID-19 (OR = 8.170, 95%CI = 2.156-30.957) and fever (OR = 10.213, 95% CI = 1.972-52.892) were the independent risk indicators for depression. CONCLUSION:  The study shows a key link between caregiver knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and neonatal COVID-19 infection, with a gap between knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Caregivers, especially those dealing with premature infants, worried about mother-to-child transmission and experienced multiple births, face significant psychological stress during this phase of the pandemic.