Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies
BackgroundThe working environment of healthcare institution during pandemic puts all hospital employees at high-risk of being exposed to contagious infections. An individual’s behavior and response are largely determined by their level of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) toward a disease. Th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1295566/full |
| _version_ | 1797352340723859456 |
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| author | Layla Aljasim Layla Aljasim Nargis Begum Javed Carlos Cordoba Haider Alyaseen Batool Aljasim Mariam Aljasim Magdalena Cordoba Bussma A. Bugis Mohammed Al-Mohaithef |
| author_facet | Layla Aljasim Layla Aljasim Nargis Begum Javed Carlos Cordoba Haider Alyaseen Batool Aljasim Mariam Aljasim Magdalena Cordoba Bussma A. Bugis Mohammed Al-Mohaithef |
| author_sort | Layla Aljasim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundThe working environment of healthcare institution during pandemic puts all hospital employees at high-risk of being exposed to contagious infections. An individual’s behavior and response are largely determined by their level of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) toward a disease. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate and assess the KAP toward COVID-19 among hospital employees working in various positions and to identify the sociodemographic determinants associated with the level of KAP.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 1 to July 15, 2020 in Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Alhasa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia in which 221 hospital employees with varied job titles participated. The data for demographics and history of COVID-19 exposure, KAP related to COVID-19 spread and prevention were collected online using a web-based platform (Survey Monkey). Student’s t-test/One-way ANOVA were used to compare total mean and standard deviation of KAP scores with demographic profiles and history of exposure.Results89.1% employees knew that COVID-19 virus is mostly transmitted from human-to-human, and 76.0% employees acknowledged droplet transmission. 64.7% employees preferred to take a sick person with unconfirmed COVID-19 to a health facility. Physicians had higher knowledge scores for COVID-19 infection and non-medical employees had the lowest scores (7.47 ± 1.23 and 6.47 ± 1.44, respectively). Nurses had the highest practice scores and non-medical employees lowest practice score (6.16 ± 0.74 and 5.37 ± 1.14, respectively). Attitude scores were similar among all the employees. All employees reported an increase in hand-washing frequency and physical contact avoidance.ConclusionThe study results revealed socio-demographic factors; level of education, nationality, and field of service are associated with COVID-19 KAP. The study highlights that there is a gap in the level of knowledge about COVID-19, especially among nonmedical employees. Targeted interventional programs need to be planned and implemented to improve COVID-19 awareness among non-medical employees. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T13:15:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-18996aa05dc04bde98386436d9345a7d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T13:15:01Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-18996aa05dc04bde98386436d9345a7d2024-01-18T08:41:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652024-01-011210.3389/fpubh.2024.12955661295566Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategiesLayla Aljasim0Layla Aljasim1Nargis Begum Javed2Carlos Cordoba3Haider Alyaseen4Batool Aljasim5Mariam Aljasim6Magdalena Cordoba7Bussma A. Bugis8Mohammed Al-Mohaithef9Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Al Mubarraz, Eastern Province, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaDivision of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Center Hospitalier de I’Universite de Montreal (CHUM), Montreal, QC, CanadaAlmoosa Specialist Hospital, Albatalia, Hufuf, Eastern Province, Saudi ArabiaAlahsa Health Cluster, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health, Al Mubarraz, Eastern Province, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia Ministry of Health, Al Mubarraz, Eastern Province, Saudi ArabiaSchool of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, CanadaDepartment of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaBackgroundThe working environment of healthcare institution during pandemic puts all hospital employees at high-risk of being exposed to contagious infections. An individual’s behavior and response are largely determined by their level of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) toward a disease. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate and assess the KAP toward COVID-19 among hospital employees working in various positions and to identify the sociodemographic determinants associated with the level of KAP.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 1 to July 15, 2020 in Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Alhasa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia in which 221 hospital employees with varied job titles participated. The data for demographics and history of COVID-19 exposure, KAP related to COVID-19 spread and prevention were collected online using a web-based platform (Survey Monkey). Student’s t-test/One-way ANOVA were used to compare total mean and standard deviation of KAP scores with demographic profiles and history of exposure.Results89.1% employees knew that COVID-19 virus is mostly transmitted from human-to-human, and 76.0% employees acknowledged droplet transmission. 64.7% employees preferred to take a sick person with unconfirmed COVID-19 to a health facility. Physicians had higher knowledge scores for COVID-19 infection and non-medical employees had the lowest scores (7.47 ± 1.23 and 6.47 ± 1.44, respectively). Nurses had the highest practice scores and non-medical employees lowest practice score (6.16 ± 0.74 and 5.37 ± 1.14, respectively). Attitude scores were similar among all the employees. All employees reported an increase in hand-washing frequency and physical contact avoidance.ConclusionThe study results revealed socio-demographic factors; level of education, nationality, and field of service are associated with COVID-19 KAP. The study highlights that there is a gap in the level of knowledge about COVID-19, especially among nonmedical employees. Targeted interventional programs need to be planned and implemented to improve COVID-19 awareness among non-medical employees.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1295566/fullattitudeCOVID-19hospital employeesknowledgepractice |
| spellingShingle | Layla Aljasim Layla Aljasim Nargis Begum Javed Carlos Cordoba Haider Alyaseen Batool Aljasim Mariam Aljasim Magdalena Cordoba Bussma A. Bugis Mohammed Al-Mohaithef Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies Frontiers in Public Health attitude COVID-19 hospital employees knowledge practice |
| title | Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies |
| title_full | Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies |
| title_fullStr | Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies |
| title_short | Assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among hospital employees: identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies |
| title_sort | assessing covid 19 knowledge attitudes and practices among hospital employees identifying sociodemographic determinants for improved public health strategies |
| topic | attitude COVID-19 hospital employees knowledge practice |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1295566/full |
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