Knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 among secondary school students in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background In Ethiopia, an array of measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Such control measures could significantly influence the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 in the general population. However, still, there is scarce information regarding the KAP of students towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aimed to assess KAP and associated factors towards COVID-19 among secondary school students in Gondar town, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2021 on a total of 395 participants. Proportional sample allocation was used in 4 randomly selected schools. Then, students from each of the schools were recruited by using a systematic random sampling technique. Socio-demographic data and questions regarding the KAP were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS 20. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the associated factors and p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The mean age of study participants was 17.7±1.5 years and slightly more than 2/3 (67.3%) ranges from 17–19 years old. In this study, 86.3% (95% CI: 83–90) of study participants had good knowledge about COVID-19. Students having urban residence (AOR, with 95% CI: 5.6 (1.76–17.6), fathers with a diploma and above educational status (AOR, with 95% CI: 3 (1.2–7.5), and uses television or radio as a source of information (AOR, with 95% CI: 3.7 (1.5–9.3) tended to have good knowledge about COVID-19. About 381 (86.3%) had good attitude towards COVID-19 infections, while 238 (60.3%) of the participants had a good practice to prevent COVID-19 infections. Conclusions The majority of the secondary school students in Gondar town have good knowledge, attitude, and practices towards COVID-19. However, targeted interventions are still necessary, especially for students having poor knowledge and poor practice towards COVID-19. This study also found that urban residence, a father with a diploma and above educational status, and using television or radio as a source of information about COVID-19 were significantly associated with the knowledge level of the study participants.