Knowledge, Attitude, Perception of Covid-19 Prevention Practices Among Residents in Selected Local Government Areas in Lagos State Nigeria

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has no effective cure, yet early recognition of symptoms and timely seeking of supportive care and preventive practices enhance recovery from the illness and combat the spread of the virus. To reduce the risk of transmission in the community, individuals should be advised to wash hands diligently, practice respiratory hygiene (cover their cough), avoid crowds and close contact with ill individuals (WHO,2019). This study was a cross sectional descriptive study carried out in January, 2021 designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, perception of covid-19 prevention practices among residents in selected local government areas in Lagos State Nigeria. The knowledge obtained from this research should act as a framework for educating the population about the triggers, modes of infection and, most specifically, disease prevention. Methods: The data was collected and analyzed using the statistical package of social (SPSS) version 28. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used. Inferential statistic that was used is Chi-square and was adopted in testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Four hundred and twenty questionnaires (420) were administered, and four hundred were completely and correctly filled. The response rate was 95.2%. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 38.43±16.4years. The ages of the majority 118 (29.5%) of the respondents, fell within the 30 to 39 years age range. Most 251(62.8%) of the respondents were female while less than half 158(39.5%) of the respondents were Muslims. More than half 208(52.0%) of the respondents were married. Few 135(33.8%) of the respondents had tertiary education, with less than half 151(37.8%) of the respondents without formal education. Most 174(43.4%) of the respondents are Artisans. More than half 241(60.3%) of the respondents had fair knowledge about COVID19, with 159(39.8%) of the respondents having good knowledge. Most 279(69.8%) of the respondents had low perception of COVID19 prevention while 121(30.2%) of the respondents had high perception. All 400(100%) of the respondents had negative attitudinal disposition towards COVID19 prevention. Slightly half 262(67.8%) of the respondents had poor prevention practices, while 198(49.5%) of the respondents had good prevention practices. Conclusion: This study provided a comprehensive look at the knowledge, attitude and perception of COVID19 prevention practices among residents of selected local government areas in Lagos Nigeria. The participants had a high level of knowledge about the virus and good practice towards using protective measures, which is significant towards controlling the spread of the virus. But the attitudinal disposition of the respondent’s was negative; this could be because of inadequate information regarding the virus. This study recommends developing informative COVID-19 related campaigns, and providing necessary protective mask and hand sanitizers for the residence of this community. Effective health education campaigns aimed at enhancing attitude of COVID-19 are therefore desperately needed to promote positive mindset and maintain appropriate preventive practices and health campaigns should be more focused on practices such as regular hand-washing with soap and water and social distancing, which protect against transmission of COVID-19 among community members irrespective of their sex.