Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Survey

• Main Authors: Onesmus Kamacooko, Jonathan Kitonsa, Ubaldo M. Bahemuka, Freddie M. Kibengo, Anne Wajja, Vincent Basajja, Alfred Lumala, Ayoub Kakande, Paddy Kafeero, Edward Ssemwanga, Robert Asaba, Joseph Mugisha, Benjamin F. Pierce, Robin J. Shattock, Pontiano Kaleebu, Eugene Ruzagira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; healthcare workers; knowledge; attitude; practices
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/13/7004

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of COVID-19. However, data on HCWs’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 are limited. Between September and November 2020, we conducted a questionnaire-based COVID-19 KAP survey among HCWs at three hospitals in Uganda. We used Bloom’s cut-off of ≥80% to determine sufficient knowledge, good attitude, and good practice, and multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance for statistical analysis. Of 717 HCWs invited to participate, 657 (91.6%) agreed and were enrolled. The mean age (standard deviation) of enrollees was 33.2 (10.2) years; most were clinical HCWs (64.7%) and had advanced secondary school/other higher-level education (57.8%). Overall, 83.9% had sufficient knowledge, 78.4% had a positive attitude, and 37.0% had good practices toward COVID-19. Factors associated with KAP were: Knowledge: being a clinical HCW (aRR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.02–1.23) and previous participation in health research (aRR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.04–1.17); Attitude: age > 35 years (aRR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.79–0.98); Practice: being a clinical HCW (aRR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.41–2.59). HCWs in Uganda have good knowledge and positive attitude but poor practices towards COVID-19. Differences in COVID-19 KAP between clinical and non-clinical HCWs could affect uptake of COVID-19 interventions including vaccination.