Author(s)

Golden Owhonda^1,2, Ifeoma Nwadiuto^1,2, Omosivie Maduka^2,3*, Datonye Alasia^2,4, Charles Tobin-West^2,3, Nyarawo Ekanem^2,5, Chinenye Okafor^2,6, Esther Azi^2,7, Vetty Agala^2,8, Chibianotu Ojimah^2,6, John Nwolim Paul^1,2, Doris Nria^1,2, Ayo-Maria Olofinuka^2,6, Ifeoma Ndekwu^2,9, Chikezie Opara^2,9, Chris Newsom^2,9

¹Department of Public Health and Disease Control, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
²Rivers State Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
³Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
⁴Department of Internal Medicine, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
⁵Department of Disease Control, Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
⁶World Health Organization, Rivers State Field Office, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
⁷Department of Community Medicine, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
⁸Rivers State Hospital Management Board, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
⁹Stakeholder Democracy Network, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Background Knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice of Covid-19 prevention affect the effectiveness of healthcare workers in the pandemic response. This study assessed gaps in awareness, knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice of Covid-19 prevention among healthcare workers in Rivers State, Nigeria. Methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey carried out six weeks into Rivers State response that commenced on February 20, 2020, in the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs). State Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers used multistage sampling to recruit 555 healthcare workers for the survey. A self-designed structured interviewer-administered questionnaire built into the Open Data Kit application for android phones was used for data collection. Descriptive data analysis was done, and outputs presented as frequency and percentages. Results There was a total of 372 (67.0%) female respondents. Majority of study participants had tertiary education 453 (81.6%). The mean age of study participants was 40.6 years (Standard Deviation = 7.8 years). Furthermore, 285 (51.4%) were Community Health Workers, and had over ten years practicing experience 393 (70.8%). Most healthcare workers 554 (99.8%) had heard about Covid-19, through radio 539 (97.1%), and television 445 (80.2%) yet 213 (38.4%) respondents did not know that it is caused by a virus. Most respondents 415 (74.8%) had good knowledge about Covid-19. However, only 148 (26.7%) would refer suspected cases to a facility and only 365 (65.8%) respondents demonstrated the correct hand washing technique. Conclusion There are some gaps in health worker knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice of Covid-19 prevention. Interventions to bridge these gaps are needed for effective containment of this pandemic.

Knowledge, Attitude, Perception, Practice, Healthcare Workers, Covid-19

Owhonda, G. , Nwadiuto, I. , Maduka, O. , Alasia, D. , Tobin-West, C. , Ekanem, N. , Okafor, C. , Azi, E. , Agala, V. , Ojimah, C. , Paul, J. , Nria, D. , Olofinuka, A. , Ndekwu, I. , Opara, C. and Newsom, C. (2021) Exploring Gaps in Healthcare Workers Knowledge, Attitude, Perception and Practice of COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Rivers State Nigeria. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 11, 140-155. doi: 10.4236/aid.2021.112014.