Knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 among health professionals in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global pandemic on 11th March, 2020. In Ethiopia, more than 90,490 and 1,300 confirmed cases and deaths were reported by the Federal Ministry of Health at the time of writing up this project. As health care providers are frontline workers managing the COVID-19 pandemic, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the pooled level of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 among health professionals in Ethiopia. Methods PubMed, Google Scholar, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and African Journal of Online (AJOL) were searched. The data were extracted using Microsoft Excel and analyzed using STATA version 14. Publication bias was checked by funnel plot and more objectively through Egger’s regression test, with P < 0.05 considered to indicate potential publication bias. The heterogeneity of studies was checked using I2 statistics. Pooled analysis was conducted using a weighted inverse variance random-effects model. Subgroup analysis was done related to geographic region and time. A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis was also employed. Result A total of 11 studies with 3,843 study participants for knowledge, eight studies with 2,842 study participants for attitude and 10 studies with 3, 435 study participants for practice were used to estimate the pooled level of good knowledge, positive attitude and poor practice among health professionals. The overall estimated good level of knowledge, positive attitude and poor practice towards COVID-19 was found to be 79.4% (95% CI: 73.5%-85.2%; I2 = 96%), 73.7% (95%CI: 63.09%-84.4%; I2 = 98.3%) and 40.3% (95%CI: 31.1%-49.6%; I2 = 97.1%) respectively. Conclusion Study findings showed that there were significant gaps in COVID-19 related knowledge, attitude and practice with respect to World Health Organization recommendations on COVID-19 management and personal protection practices. This study therefore recommends that institutions provide with immediate effect accurate and up-to-date information on COVID-19 and training that encourages improved knowledge, attitude and practice to mitigate this pandemic.

Attitude and associated factors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health professionals in Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, North Central Ethiopia; 2021: cross-sectional study

“…COVID-19 with multiple challenges is greatly affecting all systems of the country of Ethiopia and it is alarming for the gov’t, stakeholders, and every citizen of the country to combat the pandemic [ 17 1 ]. In Ethiopia, overall health professional’s knowledge, attitude, and practice to COVID-19 are poor [ 19 ]. Also, low-level preparedness to prevent the pandemic with limited personal protective equipment supplies contributes to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Ethiopia [ 17 – 19 ].…”

“…In Ethiopia, overall health professional’s knowledge, attitude, and practice to COVID-19 are poor [ 19 ]. Also, low-level preparedness to prevent the pandemic with limited personal protective equipment supplies contributes to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Ethiopia [ 17 – 19 ]. The preparedness level to combat the pandemic in the study area was low and daily reports of COVID-19 positive patients are rapidly increasing [ 29 ].…”

Assessing Attitude Toward COVID-19 Vaccination in South Korea

“…A range of reports has shown that up to 40% of the general population had unfavorable views about potential COVID-19 vaccines ( Bhartiya et al, 2021 ; Lake et al, 2021 ; Verger et al, 2021 ). One of the principal factors behind these attitudes seems to be a concern that the new vaccines will not be safe ( Lin et al, 2020 ; Verger et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Although the most efficient way of controlling the spread of the virus is to protect oneself from being exposed to COVID-19, it is very important to vaccinate the community’s vulnerable group, such as immigrants ( Acharya et al, 2020 ; Mannan and Farhana, 2020 ; Lake et al, 2021 ). A study found that only 54% of the respondents said that they intended to have the vaccination ( Lin et al, 2020 ).…”

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…A few studies have assessed KAP towards COVID-19 among HCWs in Africa. Whereas some of these studies have reported adequate COVID-19-related KAP among HCWs [ 29 , 30 ], others have found significant gaps [ 31 , 32 ]. In the current study, we assessed KAP towards COVID-19 among HCWs in Uganda with the aim of informing national COVID-19 prevention and control efforts.…”