Demographic factors, attitude and knowledge of persons with special needs towards COVID-19 in Nigeria: Implications for counselling and social policy

Abstract

This study investigated demographic factors, attitude and knowledge of persons with special needs towards COVID-19 in Nigeria between 12th and 25th May, 2020. This cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 72 persons with special needs purposively selected from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. A questionnaire comprising questions on demographic information (three), knowledge (24) and attitude (28) towards COVID-19 was completed via Google forms by the participants (r = 0.78). There were more males (51, 70.8%) than females (21, 29.2%) and the most common age group was 34-44 years (37.5%). The number of participants with a hearing impairment was 34 (47.2%) and the number with a visual impairment was 26 (36.1%). The results indicate adequate knowledge about the characteristics of COVID-19. It was found that 98.6% of the participants had heard about COVID-19; 94.4% were aware that COVID-19 is a contagious disease, 91.7% stated that COVID-19 is a virus and 88.9% reported correctly that the incubation period is 3-14 days. The knowledge about symptoms of COVID-19 among participants was high (x = 2.63; participants obtained 87.8% of the total achievable score for these questions). The knowledge about prevention and control of COVID 19 among participants needs was very high (x = 2.77; participants obtained 92.3% of the total achievable score for these questions). Attitude of participants towards the COVID-19 outbreak was positive and above average (x = 2.84). However, participants reported that it is hard to get palliatives or financial and material support from others during COVID-19 lockdown (52.8%) and that they feel frustrated by the uncaring attitude of the government towards them during COVID-19 lockdown (55.6%). On this basis, counselling and social policy implications were suggested including the need for widespread enlightenment on how to reduce hearing and vision impairments in the country.