ATTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION HEALTH WORKERS ON TRANSMISSION AND PREVENTION OF COVID-19

1.1 Introduction

The current rampant coronavirus infection in humans, commonly known as COVID-19, a pandemic that may cause mortality in humans, has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 is considered a zoonotic infectious disease that can spread amongst humans or animals to human (Zhou et al., 2020); when transmitted by humans, it could lead to serious respiratory conditions (Abdelhafiz et al., 2020 and Chandi et al., 2020). The key clinical signs and symptoms include fatigue, a fever of 39 degrees and above, dry cough, dyspnoea, fatigue, and myalgia, and in some severe cases, COVID-19 infection can cause kidney failure, severe pneumonia and acute respiratory syndrome, and even death (Abdelhafiz et al., 2020).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Knowledge, attitudes, perception, and preventative practices regarding coronavirus- 2019 (COVID-19) are crucial in its prevention and control. Several studies have noted that the majority of people in sub-Saharan African are noncompliant with proposed health and safety measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and respective country health departments. In most sub-Saharan African countries, noncompliance is attributable to ignorance and misinformation, thereby raising questions about people’s knowledge, attitudes, perception, and practices towards COVID-19 in these settings. This situation is particularly of concern for governments and public health experts. Thus, this scoping review is aimed at mapping evidence on the knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and preventive practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The morbidity and mortality rates due to the pandemic are increasing rapidly worldwide, with the USA most affected by the disease. The source COVID-19 is not absolutely clear; however, the disease may be transmitted by either by COVID-19-positive individuals or from a contaminated environment. In this review, we focused on how the COVID-19 virus is transmitted in the community. An extensive literature search was conducted using specific keywords and criteria. Based on the published report, it is concluded that COVID-19 is primarily transmitted human-to-human via oral and respiratory aerosols and droplets with the virus-contaminated environment play a lesser role in the propagation of disease. Healthcare providers and the elderly with comorbidities are especially susceptible to the infection.

Healthcare industry is one of the most hazardous environments to work in. Employees in this industry are constantly exposed to a complex variety of health and safety hazards in the course of their work. Hazards range from biological exposure to disease causing organisms such as tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or exposure to chemicals such as glutaraldehyde and ethylene dioxide. Apart from physical hazards such as exposure to radiation and noise, there are also ergonomic issues such as heavy lifting and standing for long periods. Long working hours and shift work add to the stress of work (NIH, 2021).

A healthcare worker is in need of protection from these workplace hazards just as much as any other category of workers such as miners or construction workers. The World Health Report 2006 – Working Together for Health – reported a severe healthcare workforce shortage especially in 57 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia. Fear of contracting infectious diseases is primarily responsible for high attrition rates among health care workers (NIH, 2021).

Therefore, in Hospital Takum Taraba State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Attitude, Knowledge and Perception Health Workers on Transmission and Prevention of Covid-19.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation reveals the following problems of Attitude, Knowledge and Perception Health Workers on Transmission and Prevention of Covid-19 in Hospital Takum Taraba State research work which entails that; the intermediate source of origin and transfer to humans is not known, however, the rapid human to human transfer has been confirmed widely. There is no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine available to be used against COVID-19. However, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs have been evaluated against COVID-19 in clinical trials, resulted in clinical recovery.

Nurses get in contact with patients on a daily basis, so they are exposed to sharp injuries and many types of infections due to the nature of their occupation. It is important to follow standard precautions to reduce transmission of infections. In Palestine, despite of the availability of protocol for infection control in hospitals, it is applicable in varied degree from hospital to hospital. In addition, after reviewing documents from Palestinian Health Information Centre in MOH, it doesn't have any statistics regarding nurses' knowledge and practice of SP measures and those related to SI among health care workers.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Attitude, Knowledge and Perception Health Workers on Transmission and Prevention of Covid-19 in Hospital Takum Taraba State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To assess the attitude of Health Workers on Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention in Hospital Takum Taraba State
2. To find out whether the Health Workers are aware about the means of Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention in Hospital Takum Taraba State
3. To investigate the source and mode of Covid-19 transmission among health workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State
4. To evaluate existing preventive measures restricting the spread of Covid-19 among health workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are the Health Workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State are aware about the means of Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention?
• Does the existing preventive measure restrict the spread of Covid-19 among health workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State?
• What are the attitudes of Health Workers on Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention in Hospital Takum Taraba State?
• What are the source and mode of Covid-19 transmission among health workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: Health Workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State are not aware about the means of Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention
• H1: Health Workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State are aware about the means of Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention

Hypothesis Two

• H0: The existing preventive measures (such as; maintaining social distance and the use of nose mask) does not restrict the spread of Covid-19 among health workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State
• H1: The existing preventive measures (such as; maintaining social distance and the use of nose mask) restricts the spread of Covid-19 among health workers in Hospital Takum Taraba State

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1.7 Significance of Study

Findings of the study will help in showing the level of Attitude and Perception Health Workers exhibit on the awareness of Covid-19 Transmission and Prevention in Hospital Takum Taraba State. The result will also help in building up knowledge base on the care of the elderly patients. Improving data base on patients’ health nutrition and standard of living which will help for further research, advocacy, policy dialogue and programming.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Attitude, Knowledge and Perception Health Workers on Transmission and Prevention of Covid-19 in Hospital Takum Taraba State.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

1. Nutrition: Nutrition is the science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes food intake, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion.
2. Malnutrition: Malnutrition is a condition that results from eating a diet in which nutrients are either not enough or are too much such that the diet causes health problems. It may involve calories, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins or minerals.
3. Health: Health is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental, psychological and social changes with environment.