COVID-19 knowledge, beliefs, prevention behaviours and misinformation in the context of an adapted seasonal malaria chemoprevention campaign in six northern Nigerian States

Abstract

Background Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine is an efficacious intervention for protection of children against Plasmodium falciparum malaria during the rainy season. In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Malaria Consortium adapted its SMC delivery model to ensure safety of distributors, data collectors and beneficiaries. We conducted a SMC monitoring survey in July 2020 in the states of Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Yobe, with questions on COVID-19 prevention behaviours and symptoms, and belief in misinformation. We investigated the associations between receipt of information on COVID-19 by different sources, including from SMC distributors, and these three outcomes using logistic generalised estimating equations. We also considered moderation of effectiveness of message delivery by SMC distributors and adherence to use of face coverings. Results We obtained a representative sample of 40,157 caregivers of eligible children aged 3–59 months, of which 36,914 (91.92%) reported knowledge of COVID-19. The weighted proportions of respondents who correctly identified COVID-19 prevention behaviours and symptoms, and who reported belief in COVID-19 misinformation, were 80.52% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 80.02–81.00), 81.72% (95% CI 81.23–82.20) and 22.90% (95% CI 22.24–23.57). Receipt of information on COVID-19 from SMC distributors during the campaign was significantly associated with higher odds of caregiver knowledge of COVID-19 prevention behaviours (odds ratio [OR] 1.78, 95% CI 1.64–1.94, p < 0.001) and symptoms (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.59–1.90, p < 0.001) and lower odds of belief in COVID-19 misinformation (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85–1.00, p = 0.038). The associations between message delivery by SMC distributors and the three outcomes were moderated by their adherence to face covering use. Receipt of information by other sources used to deliver government public health messages, including radio and health facility workers, was also associated with knowledge of COVID-19. Conclusions Malaria Consortium’s SMC programme was successfully adapted in the context of COVID-19 and was a conduit for high-quality public health messages. Standard SMC monitoring and evaluation activities can be adapted to gather evidence on emerging public health issues such as the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The causes, impacts and countermeasures of COVID-19 “Infodemic”: A systematic review using narrative synthesis

“…Education and training on health/eHealth literacy were required for the public communities or individuals to increase their ability to differentiate reliable information from the rumors. ( Durodolu and Ibenne, 2020 ; Wormer, 2020 ; Mokhtari and Mirzaei, 2020 ; Mondiale de la Santé, 2020 ; Gottlieb and Dyer, 2020 ; Chou et al., 2021 ; Bastani and Bahrami, 2020 ; Vanderpool et al., 2020 ; Okereke et al., 2020 ; Schiavo, 2020 ; Morgan-Daniel et al., 2020 ; Alvarez-Risco et al., 2020 ; Chong et al., 2020 ; Cichocka, 2020 ; Scerri and Grech, 2020 ; Patel et al., 2020 ; Yu and Mani, 2020 ; Ahmed, 2020 ; Hui et al., 2020 ; Clark-Ginsberg et al., 2020 ; Vraga et al., 2020 ; Sharma et al., 2020 ; Xie et al., 2020 ; Dakhesh et al., 2020 ; Eysenbach, 2002 ; Graham, 2021 ; Morley et al., 2020 ; Vervoort et al., 2020 ; Sperry and Scheibe, 2002 ; Khan et al., 2020 ; Ratzan et al., 2020 ; Hartley and Vu, 2020 ) Empirical studies showed that an empowering intervention was able to significantly reduce the conspiracy beliefs among the public, hence reducing the spreading of rumors ( van Stekelenburg et al., 2021 ; Richardson et al., 2020 ).…”

Why do people believe health misinformation and who is at risk? A systematic review of individual differences in susceptibility to health misinformation

“…Use of healthcare professionals or scientists as information sources predicts lower susceptibility to health misinformation, as shown in three studies (Richardson et al, 2020;Roozenbeek et al, 2020, study 4;.…”

“…A total of eight studies examined the association between mainstream media use (i.e., general mainstream media use or relying on mainstream media as an information source) and susceptibility to health misinformation. Of the eight studies, four found that mainstream media use is associated with lower susceptibility to health misinformation (Allington et al, 2020, studies 1-2;Richardson et al, 2020;Stecula et al, 2020), two found that mainstream media use increases susceptibility to health misinformation (Melki et al, 2021;van Stekelenburg et al, 2020), and two studies found no relationship (Brian Houston et al, 2021;Jamieson & Albarracín, 2020).…”

Public information needs during the COVID-19 outbreak: a qualitative study in mainland China

“…Thus, many studies have advocated solutions to improve public information literacy, such as education and training programs (Gottlieb and Dyer, 2020; Vraga et al. , 2020; Durodolu and Ibenne, 2020), which have proven to help control misinformation spreading (Richardson et al. , 2020; van Stekelenburg et al.…”

“…Summary reviews of information can be applied to handle the vast amount of epidemic information on the internet that places a high health information literacy demand on the users (Dadaczynski et al, 2021;Ros ario et al, 2020;Hsu, 2021). Thus, many studies have advocated solutions to improve public information literacy, such as education and training programs (Gottlieb and Dyer, 2020;Vraga et al, 2020;Durodolu and Ibenne, 2020), which have proven to help control misinformation spreading (Richardson et al, 2020;van Stekelenburg et al, 2021). However, the results of this study revealed that participants demonstrated higher informationseeking abilities and information literacy than before or at the beginning of the epidemic, aligning with other studies such as Zimmerman (2021).…”