Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study
Abstract Background The Coronavirus disease (a highly infectious viral disease) quickly swept across the globe in 2020, causing mortality and severe respiratory illnesses. It quickly affected businesses and publicly provided services in United Arab Emirates (UAE), imposing significant costs to socie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09215-y |
| _version_ | 1797832156616065024 |
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| author | Amina M. Al Marzouqi Michael Ekubu Otim Leena S. Kehail Ramsha A. Kamal |
| author_facet | Amina M. Al Marzouqi Michael Ekubu Otim Leena S. Kehail Ramsha A. Kamal |
| author_sort | Amina M. Al Marzouqi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The Coronavirus disease (a highly infectious viral disease) quickly swept across the globe in 2020, causing mortality and severe respiratory illnesses. It quickly affected businesses and publicly provided services in United Arab Emirates (UAE), imposing significant costs to society. The general population of UAE was jittery and unsure how to address the problem. The focus turned on government and Health Care Workers (HCW) to handle the pandemic. Thus, knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of HCW became critical for the treatment and isolation of COVID-19 patients. Thus, the KAP of the HCW came under scrutiny. This is study set out to answer the research question, by investigating the KAP of HCW related to COVID-19 in the UAE. Methods This was a cross-sectional study undertaken in UAE. The focus of was on HCWs as a population. Using convenience sampling with the help of Creative Research Software, the participants were identified, and an online questionnaire (Google Forms) distributed by the author. The questionnaire was adapted from the instrument developed by Bruce and Frey. It contained questions on demographic variables, knowledge, attitudes, and practice of HCW related to COVID-19. That instrument was contextualized to the UAE society and validated. Results Among the participants in the study, the majority, 90.7% (97) knew that the absence of fever did not mean there was no chance of transmission from an infected person. Further, 84.1% (90) agreed that wearing general medical face masks helps prevent one from contracting COVID-19. However, only 36.4% (39) strongly believed that wearing a well-fitting face mask was effective. In addition, only 15.9% (17) reported confidently managing patients with symptoms of COVID-19, while 54.2% (58) indicated they were afraid of contracting the virus from patients. Almost 50% of the participants noted that they avoided patients who had symptoms of the COVID-19. Conclusion This study revealed that the KAP for healthcare workers from UAE healthcare facilities related to COVID-19 was high. The healthcare workers were trained well and that positively affected awareness and the practice of HCW regarding the spread of the virus. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:03:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-60d433209830479dab6c44ec6ce6ef54 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:03:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-60d433209830479dab6c44ec6ce6ef542023-05-07T11:09:47ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632023-03-012311910.1186/s12913-023-09215-yKnowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional studyAmina M. Al Marzouqi0Michael Ekubu Otim1Leena S. Kehail2Ramsha A. Kamal3College of Health Sciences, University of SharjahDepartment of Public Health and Behavioral Sciences, Dubai Medical College for GirlsCollege of Health Sciences, University of SharjahCollege of Health Sciences, University of SharjahAbstract Background The Coronavirus disease (a highly infectious viral disease) quickly swept across the globe in 2020, causing mortality and severe respiratory illnesses. It quickly affected businesses and publicly provided services in United Arab Emirates (UAE), imposing significant costs to society. The general population of UAE was jittery and unsure how to address the problem. The focus turned on government and Health Care Workers (HCW) to handle the pandemic. Thus, knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of HCW became critical for the treatment and isolation of COVID-19 patients. Thus, the KAP of the HCW came under scrutiny. This is study set out to answer the research question, by investigating the KAP of HCW related to COVID-19 in the UAE. Methods This was a cross-sectional study undertaken in UAE. The focus of was on HCWs as a population. Using convenience sampling with the help of Creative Research Software, the participants were identified, and an online questionnaire (Google Forms) distributed by the author. The questionnaire was adapted from the instrument developed by Bruce and Frey. It contained questions on demographic variables, knowledge, attitudes, and practice of HCW related to COVID-19. That instrument was contextualized to the UAE society and validated. Results Among the participants in the study, the majority, 90.7% (97) knew that the absence of fever did not mean there was no chance of transmission from an infected person. Further, 84.1% (90) agreed that wearing general medical face masks helps prevent one from contracting COVID-19. However, only 36.4% (39) strongly believed that wearing a well-fitting face mask was effective. In addition, only 15.9% (17) reported confidently managing patients with symptoms of COVID-19, while 54.2% (58) indicated they were afraid of contracting the virus from patients. Almost 50% of the participants noted that they avoided patients who had symptoms of the COVID-19. Conclusion This study revealed that the KAP for healthcare workers from UAE healthcare facilities related to COVID-19 was high. The healthcare workers were trained well and that positively affected awareness and the practice of HCW regarding the spread of the virus.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09215-yCOVID-19 knowledgeCOVID-19 attitudesCOVID-19 PracticesCOVID-19Healthcare workersUnited Arab Emirates |
| spellingShingle | Amina M. Al Marzouqi Michael Ekubu Otim Leena S. Kehail Ramsha A. Kamal Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study BMC Health Services Research COVID-19 knowledge COVID-19 attitudes COVID-19 Practices COVID-19 Healthcare workers United Arab Emirates |
| title | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare workers towards COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | knowledge attitudes and practices of healthcare workers towards covid 19 patients in the united arab emirates a cross sectional study |
| topic | COVID-19 knowledge COVID-19 attitudes COVID-19 Practices COVID-19 Healthcare workers United Arab Emirates |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09215-y |
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