COVID-19: Knowledge of mode of spread and preventive practices among mothers attending a tertiary health institution

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic is a very common menace in the world. Knowledge on mode of spread and prevention of COVID-19 remains blurred among mothers who visit children clinics. Objectives: This work is aimed to determine the knowledge of mode of spread and preventive practices among mothers presenting in a health institution. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study undertaken in a health institution in South East Nigeria using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Data entry and analysis were done using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software version 25.0. Results: All the respondents (100.0%) have heard of COVID-19. A minor proportion of the respondents, 31.9%, had good knowledge of the mode of spread of COVID-19. Majority of the respondents, 93.3%, knew that COVID-19 could be prevented through good use of personal hand sanitizer. A high proportion of the respondents, 75.5%, were aware that COVID-19 could be prevented by avoiding crowded places and 76.7% by wearing of face mask. The respondents who were in the age group 30–39 years were twice more likely to have good knowledge of spread of COVID-19 when compared with those who were 50 years and above. (AOR = 2.2, 95%CI: 1.2–3.9). The respondents who attained tertiary education were 1.3 times less likely to have good knowledge of spread of COVID-19 when compared with those who attained secondary education. (AOR = 0.8, 95%CI: 0.5–1.2). Respondents who were married were about five times more likely to have good preventive practices against COVID-19 than those who were single parents. (AOR = 4.9, 95%CI: 2.8–8.4). Conclusion: Education is predictive of knowledge of mode of spread while being married is predictive of knowledge of preventive practices.