Radiographers’ knowledge, attitude and adherence to standard COVID-19 precautions and the policy implications: a national cross-sectional study in Nigeria

Figures & data

Figure 1. Sex distribution of the participants (n = 255).

Figure 2. Participants’ expertise (n = 255).

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the survey participants (n = 255).

Variables	Total (%)
Sex
Male	196 (23.1)
Female	59 (76.9)
Age range (years)
20–29	66 (25.9)
30–39	110 (43.1)
40–49	48 (18.8)
50–59	20 (7.9)
≥ 60	11 (4.3)
Years-in-practice
1–10	171 (67.1)
11–20	54 (21.2)
21–30	19 (7.5)
31–40	8 (3.1)
41–50	3 (1.1)
Educational qualification
Professional diploma	5 (2.0)
Bachelor’s degree	160 (62.7)
Master’s degree	71 (27.8)
Doctor of philosophy	19 (7.5)
Region of practice
North Central	30 (11.8)
North East	19 (7.5)
North West	36 (14.1)
South East	48 (18.8)
South	48 (18.8)
South West	48 (18.8)
Not provided	26 (10.2)
Practice settings
Public hospital (tertiary)	68 (26.7)
Public hospital (secondary and primary)	72 (28.2)
Public diagnostic centre	47 (18.4)
Private hospital	64 (21.1)
Private diagnostic centre	2 (0.8)
Military hospital	2 (0.8)

Table 2. Response percentage and median showing the attitude of the participants towards radiography practice during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 255).

Item	S.D (1)	D (2)	I (3)	A (4)	S.A (5)
*You prefer to stay at home than go to work during this pandemic	22.4%	36.1%	15.6%	14.1%	11.8%
Your work environment exposes you to a higher risk of contracting COVID-19	1.2%	3.5%	9.4 %	40.4%	45.5%
You are willing to work in a COVID-19 isolation area or treat a confirmed COVID-19 case	8.2%	14.9%	21.2%	35.7%	20.0%
*Personal protection equipment is not necessary unless I am working with a confirmed COVID-19	52.9%	32.2%	2.7%	7.5%	4.7%
It is important to resist any attempt to touch one’s face while at workplace	19.2%	0.4%	0.8%	0.0%	79.6%
When the gloves are carefully removed, handwashing or alcohol-based sanitizer is still necessary	21.6%	1.2%	0.4%	0.0%	76.8%
*Private radiology/diagnostic centres do not need to adopt crowd control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic	28.8%	34.9%	18.4%	15.7%	2.7%

Notes: These are responses to the question ‘On a scale from 1 to 5: 1 = strongly disagree (S.D), 2 = disagree (D), 3 = indifference (I), 4 = agree (A) and 5 = strongly agree (S.A), what is your opinion on the following items?’ * = items that were reverse coded during analysis.

Table 3. Participants’ responses on COVID-19 symptoms, transmission and hospital infection (n = 255).

Items	f (%)
The participants that endorsed these COVID-19 symptoms
Difficulty in breathing	245 (96.1)
Fever	252 (98.8)
Dry coughing	244 (95.17
Itchy sore throat	229 (89.8)
Sneezing	203 (79.6)
Runny nose	98 (38.4)
Vomiting	39 (15.3)
The participants that endorsed these COVID-19 transmission means
Respiratory aerosol from infected persons	253 (99.2)
Direct contact with infected persons	240 (94.1)
Direct contact with infected objects	248 (97.3)
Touching one’s face with contaminated hands	3 (1.2)
Sexual intercourse with an affected person	1 (0.4)
The participants’ perceived COVID-19 most infectious material or part of the workplace
Hospital fomites	252 (98.8)
Disposals such as used gloves, face masks, or swabs	240 (94.1)
Isolation units	229 (89.8)
Seats in the waiting area	221 (86.7)
Equipment shared among patients such as vital sign devices and others^a	221 (86.7)
Service desks	220 (86.3)
Hospital lavatory	164 (64.3)
The participants’ perceived preventive measures relevant to the hospital
Thorough handwashing with soap under running water	253 (99.2)
Regular use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer	250 (98.0)
Regular disinfection of frequently touched surfaces and equipment	250 (98.0)
Wearing personal protective equipment while in the hospital	249 (97.6)
Observing social distancing with colleagues	247 (96.9)
Periodic fumigation of the hospital premises especially the waiting areas	231 (90.6)

^aOthers include patient trolley, X-ray cassette, ultrasound probe, examination bed and gowns.

Figure 3. Participants’ sources of COVID-19 information (n = 255).

Table 4. ANOVA: differences in the knowledge of symptoms and preventive measures of COVID-19, attitude and safe practices across selected demographic variables.

Variable	Knowledge of COVID-19 signs, symptoms and testing	Knowledge of COVID-19 preventive measures	Attitude towards clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic	Adherence to safe practice guidelines
Years-in-practice	F(4, 250) = 1.48 p = .209	F(4, 250) = 1.14 p = .336	F(4, 250) = 0.28 p = .891	F(4, 250) = 4.17 p = .003*
Educational qualification	F(3, 251) = 2.10 p = .101	F(3, 251) = 4.62 p = .004*	F(3, 251) = 0.66 p = .577	F(3, 251) = 4.53 p = .004*
Practice setting	F(5, 249) = 0.54 p = .749	F(5, 249) = 0.49 p = .783	F(5, 249) = 0.15 p = .981	F(5, 249) = 0.697 p = .626
Practice region	F(6, 248) = 1.26 p = .276	F(6, 248) = 0.69 p = .658	F(6, 248) = 0.38 p = .889	F(6, 248) = 1.20 p = .306

*F-statistics were significant at p < .05 level (two-tailed).

Table 5. Correlations between knowledge of symptoms and preventive measures of COVID-19, attitude and safe practices (n = 255).

Variable	Knowledge of COVID-19 preventive measures	Attitude towards clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic	Adherence to safe practice guidelines
Knowledge of COVID-19 signs, symptoms and testing	r = 0.027, p = .666	r = −0.034, p = .589	r = 0.086, p = .173
Knowledge of COVID-19 preventive measures	–	r = 0.022, p = .721	r = −0.036, p = .563
Attitude towards clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic	–	–	r = −0.085, p = .175

Data availability statement

The questionnaire used and datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Our institution’s ethics guidelines warrant that the primary investigator holds primary data for at least five years before making it publicly available.