Belief, knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19 amongst residents of Abuja, Nigeria: implications for pandemic preparedness

TL;DR

This study examines how residents of Abuja, Nigeria, understood and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting gaps in knowledge and practices that could affect future preparedness.

Contribution

The study provides insights into the BKAP of a Nigerian population during the pandemic, emphasizing the role of education and demographics in shaping responses.

Findings

Most respondents had good knowledge of COVID-19, but 17% were unaware that masks could prevent it.

About 25% met in crowded places, and over 33% did not wear outdoor masks, indicating poor practices.

Higher knowledge was found among older adults, females, university graduates, and healthcare workers.

Abstract

coronavirus disease, (COVID-19), was a pandemic with high global morbidity and mortality, partly due to a lack of preparedness. People´s knowledge, belief, attitude, and perception of disease outbreaks may affect their response, and this may impact their health-related behavior. This study was designed to determine the pattern of belief, knowledge, attitude, and practices (BKAP) of residents of Abuja, Nigeria, towards the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcome of the study may help to make informed decisions on future pandemic preparedness.

a cross-sectional study with data collected online about the local perceptions and common concerns, beliefs, misconceptions, attitudes, and conspiracy theories amongst residents of the FCT. A self-reported validated e-questionnaire prepared on Google Forms was used. The obtained data was downloaded on Excel sheet and then exported to SPSS for analysis.

there were one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three (1,873) respondents, 1017 (54.3%) females and 856 (45.7%) males. Participants were majorly knowledgeable, the majority (31.2%) were in the 41-50 years age group. Surprisingly, about 17% did not know that wearing a face mask could prevent COVID-19. About 25% still met in crowded places, and slightly more than 33% did not wear outdoor masks. The highest knowledge of COVID-19 was found among people in the age range 41-50 years, females, University graduates, married people, and healthcare personnel, particularly doctors.

our study concludes that the overall population of Abuja had good knowledge and, a positive attitude, with pockets of poor attitudes and bad practices born out of misconceptions and infodemics.