Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Healthcare Providers Toward Novel Coronavirus 19 During the First Months of the Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral infection that has spread to every corner of the world. Lack of knowledge among healthcare providers (HCPs) about diseases such as COVID-19 may delay the diagnosis, disease spread, and produce poor infection control practices. Hence, this systematic review aimed to summarize the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of HCPs toward COVID-19 during the first months of the pandemic.Methods: A systematic review was conducted according the PRISMA guidelines, and the protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020191742). A relevant article search was performed on EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and the Google Scholar database. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. The median percentage of HCPs with good KAP was computed.Results: Twenty studies involving 12,072 HCPs were included in the review process. Median percentages of 75.8% (IQR: 69.3–87.7%), 74.6% (IQR: 54.4–74.6), and 79.8% (IQR: 67.0–79.8%) of HCPs had good knowledge, and positive attitude and practice, respectively. Although the reported risk factors were inconsistent among studies, age, gender, level of education, experience, infection prevention training, and sources of information were associated with knowledge of HCPs. In addition, being elderly, having a high level of education, absence of chronic illness, and good knowledge and practice were significantly associated with the attitude of HCPs. Further, types of profession, experience, age, level of education, use of personnel protective equipment, and gender were significantly associated with the practice of HCPs.Conclusions: Approximately, three-fourths of HCPs had good knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 during the first months of the pandemic, although the percentage of HCPs was inconsistent in different study settings. In addition, associated factors of KAP were inconsistent among studies; hence, stake holders should target locally identified risk factors to design relevant education packages and infection prevention training to halt the rapid transmission of COVID-19.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020191742, identifier: CRD42020191742.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare professionals toward the novel coronavirus during the early stage of COVID-19 in a lower-and-middle income country, Bangladesh

“…A study in Nepal found that 76% of HCWs reported adequate knowledge, 54.7% reported positive attitudes, and 78.9% reported behavioral practices; here, knowledge was positively associated with attitudes and practices (19). A global systematic review with 20 studies including 12,072 HCWs reported a 75.8% had good knowledge, 74.6% had positive attitudes, and 79.8% had good practices toward COVID-19 (15). Based on this literature and the evolving COVID-19 scenario, it is still necessary to identify the coronavirus's KAP among HCWs.…”

“…In Bangladesh, the mortality rate of HCWs was relatively low (0.05 per 100,000 population); however, these data don't accurately portray the actual scenario since testing capacity and research data were inadequate (14). Studies revealed that HCWs' lack of knowledge and misconceptions may have led to delays in diagnosis and poor infection prevention practices (11,15). Experience gained from the previous Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 revealed that inadequate knowledge, negative attitudes, and poor behavioral practices (KAPs) regarding infectious diseases impeded containment and inhibited further transmission (16).…”

“…Earlier studies have reported KAPs regarding COVID-19 among HCWs in different contexts (11,15,(17)(18)(19). A study conducted among 686 HCWs in Ethiopia reported that 73.3% of participants had satisfactory knowledge, 54.8% had a good attitude, and 61.5% practiced COVID-19 preventive measures.…”

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Infection Among Healthcare Workers. A First Report From a Living Systematic Review and meta-Analysis

“…What is more, the severity and rapid transmission of COVID-19 overloaded the HCWs weakening the established infection prevention and control (IPC) across many health settings [ 5 ]. Despite the high observed rate of the knowledge, attitude, and practices of HCWs towards COVID-19 containment compared to other communities, the overloaded working environment with the shortage of PPE made HCWs more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Digital Technology, Knowledge Level, and Food Safety Governance: Implications for National Healthcare System

“…Previous studies have shown that the level of education is positively correlated with the individual's cognitive level and knowledge learning ability [e.g., (35)(36)(37)]. The higher the level of education, the easier it is to accept the technical products represented by digitization.…”