Knowledge, Perceptions and Practices of COVID19 Among the Came-roonian Population

Abstract

Background: COVID19 is an emerging infectious disease that has spread all over the world and became a pandemic. Cameroon is the 7th most affected country in Africa, with most of the cases in metropoles. The main objective was to assess the knowledge, perceptions and practices of the Cameroonian populations about COVID19 infection. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 15th to July 15th, 2020; targeting all Cameroonians over 15 years old living in Cameroon. A standard Google Forms® questionnaire was submitted via social media (WhatsApp and Facebook particularly). The sampling was consecutive and not exhaustive. The data were processed on Excel 2016 and analyzed through EPI info 3.5. The questionnaire included knowledge, perceptions and practices about the disease’s existence, its functional signs, prevention and control. Knowledge, perceptions and practices were considered good for a response score ≥ 75% and poor for a score ≤ 25%. Intermediate scores were considered average and insufficient. Univariate and multivariate analyzes were performed to identify the factors associated with a significance level (p 0.05). Results: Of the 996 (507 males) participants, the median age was 26 ± 8 years. Health workers represented 20.8% of participants. A large proportion of the population (78.6%) had good knowledge, while more than half (56.5%) had good perceptions, but only (23.1%) had good practices. Having reached higher education (p = 0.007), and being a health worker (p = 0.0008) were associated with a good level of knowledge. High school education (p = 0.040) and being a health worker (p = 0.049) were associated mwith positive perceptions. Being employed (p = 0.003) and having secondary education level (p = 0.033) were associated with good practices. Conclusion: Knowledge and perceptions were good among the study population, but the practice level is still insufficient to effectively fight the COVID19 pandemic. Educational level, being employed or being healthcare workers were associated with good knowledge, perceptions and practices.