| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2023 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 1 | Page : 8 |
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Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 and its prevention among graduate students at Bahir Dar University, northwestern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study
Belaynesh Tazebew1, Abaineh Munshea2, Mastewal Alehegn1
1 Department of Biology, College of Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
2 Department of Biology, College of Science; Health Biotechnology Division, Institute of Biotechnology (IoB), Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Correspondence Address:
Belaynesh Tazebew
Department of Biology, College of Science, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar
Ethiopia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/2773-0344.376722
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Objective: SARS-CoV-2 infection is an ongoing public health emergency of international significance. Considering that there is no specific drug and 100% effective vaccine yet, knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 are crucial to prevent and manage the pandemic. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude and practices toward COVID-19 prevention measures of graduate students at a university in northwestern Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted between September to December 2020. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics and KAP of 407 randomly selected individuals. The data were exported to SPSS version 23.0, and bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used for analyses. Variables with P<0.25 in the bivariate logistic regression analysis were retained into the multivariable logistic regression models. The values were considered to be statistically significant (P≤0.05). The data quality control was tested by using 5% pretest.
Results: Among 407 participants, 267 (65.6%) had sufficient knowledge, 239 (58.7%) had positive attitude and 189 (46.4%) had good practices toward COVID-19. Marital status (AOR 0.38; 95%CI 0.11-0.95; P=0.040) and student admission type (AOR 0.32; 95%CI 0.15-0.68; P=0.003) had a statistically significant association with knowledge of students. Residence (AOR 0.18; 95%CI 0.09-0.34; P<0.01) (AOR 0.16; 95%CI 0.07-0.36; P<0.01), family size (AOR 0.45; 95%CI 0.23-0.87, P=0.017) (AOR 0.29; 95%CI 0.14-0.60; P=0.001), student admission type (AOR 0.11: 95%CI 0.04-0.29, P<0.01) (AOR 0.01; 95%CI 0.00-0.05; P<0.01) and monthly income (AOR 0.17; 95%CI 0.05-0.58; P=0.005) (AOR 0.08; 95%CI 0.02-0.32; P<0.01) were significantly associated with positive attitude and good practices, respectively. Besides, good practices such as avoiding handshaking and physical distancing were performed in the least amount of participants.
Conclusions: The scores of KAP among graduate students toward COVID-19 are low. It is recommended that university administrators reinforce proactive and effective measures to develop good knowledge, positive attitude, and better practices regarding COVID-19 for the students.
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