COVID-19 Prevention Practices and Associated Factors Among Frontline Community Health Workers in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background A timely understanding of the frontline community health care workers’ prevention practices towards COVID-19 is very crucial to combat the pandemic. Despite this, no study has been conducted among frontline community health workers in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia. The study aimed to determine the status of implementation of preventive measures of frontline community health care workers towards COVID-19 and its associated factors. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 421 health extension workers among selected districts. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire adapted from different pieces of literature. Respondents who scored above mean score on the item measurement such as knowledge, attitude, and practice questions were categorized as knowledgeable, having positive attitude, and having good prevention practices, respectively. Data were entered in EpiData 3.1 and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 software. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify significant predictors. P– values less than or equal to 0.05 were declared as statistically significant. Results The mean age of study participants was 31.35 years (±4.83 SD), and almost half (217; 51.54%) of respondents were single and 273 (62.47%) were trained for COVID-19 prevention measures. Of the total study subjects, 194 (46.08%; 95% CI=41.6–50.7%) had good prevention practices towards COVID-19. Being married (AOR=3.36, 95% CI=2.20–5.13), being trained (AOR=2.28, 95% CI=1.39–3.74), having good knowledge (AOR=2.4, 95% CI=1.52–3.99), and having positive attitude towards COVID-19 prevention measures (AOR=5.88, 95% CI=3.52–9.80) increase the likelihood of implementing prevention measures. Conclusion This study showed that prevention status was low; therefore, government and non-governmental organizations working around the study area should emphasize providing training to increase their level of knowledge and to change the attitude towards implementation of prevention measures, and these can ultimately increase the status of prevention practices.

Factors associated with preventive practices of COVID-19 among health care workers in Dilla University Hospital, Southern Ethiopia

“…The data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaires adapted from previous studies ( Walle et al, 2021 , Gebremedhin et al, 2021 ) and WHO recommended COVID-19 pandemic preventive practice ( WHO 19 March 2020 ). The questionnaire was divided into three parts (Socio-demographic, infrastructures, and prevention practice parts).…”

Healthcare workers’ compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures, and associated factors, in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A total of 7933 study participants were included in the current meta-analysis to estimate the pooled proportion of good compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures among HCWs. In the present meta-analysis, six studies were from Amhara,41 53 58 59 62 65 seven studies from the Oromiya region,38 53–55 60 61 64 four from Addis Ababa,40 56 63 66 one from Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR),39 two from Tigray region,57 67 and one study conducted in Oromiya, Amhara, Addis Ababa, Tigray, and SNNPR 42. However, none of the studies reported from Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella and Dire Dawa regions (table 1).…”

“…In the same way, four studies38 59 61 64 were used to observe the relationship between being trained on COVID-19 preventive measures and good compliance with preventive measures. The probabilities of good compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures were 2.3 times greater among HCWs who had received COVID-19 preventive measures training than among HCWs who had not received training (POR: 2.30, 95% CI: 1.78 to 2.98).…”

“…We determined the association between good knowledge and compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures using seven studies 39 40 54 55 58 59 61. It was found that HCWs with good knowledge of COVID-19 preventative measures were 2.4 times more likely to comply with COVID-19 preventive measures than HCWs with poor knowledge (POR: 2.36, 95% CI: 1.92 to 2.89) (figure 8).…”

“…A fixed-effects model was examined because there was no heterogeneity among the included studies (I 2 =0.0%, p=0.853). Similarly, four studies39 41 61 65 examined the relationship between positive attitude and good compliance of HCWs with COVID-19 preventive measures. When comparing HCWs with a positive attitude with HCWs with a negative attitude, the odds of good compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures were three times higher (POR: 3.14, 95% CI: 1.66 to 5.94).…”