Appraisal of the knowledge, attitude, Perception and Practices Among Northern Nigerians in the Wake of the COVID-19 Outbreak

Figures & data

Table 1. Questionnaire instrument used to measure knowledge, attitude, perception and practice of the respondents.

S/number	Questions	T	F	IDK
Knowledge
K1	The cause of COVID-19 is SARS-Cov-2	(51.8%)
K2	It is closely related with bat coronavirus	(57.9%)
K3	It is an RNA virus, so it can easily mutate its genome	(58.1%)
K4	Coronaviruses can easily mutate in their genome	(88.2%)
K5	High fever, dry cough, myalgia and respiratory distress are the main clinical signs of COVID-19	(89.1%)
K6	Currently there is no effective cure or vaccine available for COVID-19, but early treatment symptomatically with supportive therapy can help most patients recover	(79.2%)
K7	About 80% of COVID-19 patients will present with the mild form	(73.5%)
K8	Elderly, immunocompromised people or those with comorbidities such as diabetes have higher risk of coming down with the severe and critical form of COVID-19	(74.5%)
K9	Contact with wild animals may increase the chances of contracting COVID-19	(55.1%)
K10	COVID-19 virus can stay suspended in air for 3 h	(65.6%)
K11	COVID-19 can be transmitted through aerosol when infected person cough or sneezes without covering the mouth	(90.2%)
K12	Hand shake with COVID-19 patient's contaminated hand can cause transmission of infection	(95.1%)
K13	The use of surgical mask can reduce the transmission of COVID-19	(84.7%)
K14	Patients with COVID-19 infection can infect at least 2.6 persons per transmission cycle if protective measures are not employed	(74.6%)
K15	People should avoid large gathering and any person who have unprotected contact with COVID-19 patient should be immediately isolated and observed for 14 days	(95.0%)
Attitudes
A1	Social distancing can help stop the COVID-19 outbreak	(87.2%)
A2	Frequent hand washing with sanitizers or soap will break COVID-19 transmission	(92.6%)
A3	Most of our hospitals are not adequately equipped to handle COVID-19 patients with the severe form of the disease	(87.2%)
A4	People with history of recent oversea travel that did not isolate themselves for 14 days should be reported to the appropriate authority	(86.4%)
A5	Nigeria's level of preparedness in the fight against COVID-19 is commendable	(47.2%)
Perception
P1	SARS Cov-2 was not made in the laboratory	(46.8%)
P2	The control of COVID-19 pandemic is a collective effort	(76.0%)
P3	People are experiencing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic	(79.0%)
P4	The use of medical mask can help protect you against COVID-19 infection	(78.0%)
P5	COVID-19 truly exists and it is not a political propaganda	(80.4%)
Practice
Pr1	I avoid large gathering in recent days to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19	(66.3%)
Pr2	I wear surgical mask especially when going out during this trying time	(66.1%)
Pr3	I frequently wash my hands with water and soap and avoid touching my face with unwashed hands these days	(88.2%)
Pr4	I always ensure I maintain social distancing by keeping a distance of at least 1to 1.5 meters since this outbreak began	(66.1%)
Pr5	I always ensure that I cover my mouth with my elbow or tissue paper when I want to cough or sneeze and put used tissue paper into dustbins these days	(32.4%)

Key: F: False; IDK-I: Don't know; T: True.

Table 2. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance showing relationship between some demographic variables and participants' scores (mean ± SE) on knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices.

Variable	Level	Knowledge	Attitude	Perception	Practice
Age	18–30 years	10.8 ± 0.13	3.8 ± 0.06	3.3 ± 0.78	3.3 ± 0.75^a
	31–50 years	12.4 ± 0.15	4.2 ± 0.07^a	4.0 ± 0.09^a	3.0 ± 0.09^b
	Over 50 years	9.8 ± 0.33	4.3 ± 0.15^a	4.1 ± 0.21^a	3.5 ± 0.20^a,b
Region	North West	11.3 ± 0.11^a	3.9 ± 0.05^a	3.4 ± 0.06	3.0 ± 0.06^a
	North East	11.4 ± 0.28^a	4.6 ± 0.12^b	4.5 ± 0.16^a	4.2 ± 0.15
	North Central	12.0 ± 0.40^a	4.3 ± 0.17^a,b	4.3 ± 0.23^a	3.4 ± 0.22^a
Marital status	Married	12.0 ± 0.12	4.4 ± 0.05	3.8 ± 0.08	3.3 ± 0.07^a,b
	Single	10.7 ± 0.15	3.5 ± 0.06^a	3.1 ± 0.09	3.1 ± 0.09^a,c
	Divorced	8.8 ± 0.50	3.8 ± 0.21^a	5.0 ± 0.30	3.2 ± 0.30^b,c
Western education qualification	None	6.5 ± 0.60	3.1 ± 0.27^a	5.0 ± 0.37^a	2.2 ± 0.37^a
	SS Cert.	10.9 ± 0.14^a	3.7 ± 0.06^a	3.1 ± 0.09	3.0 ± 0.08^a
	Bachelor's Degree	11.4 ± 0.15^a	4.3 ± 0.07^b	3.6 ± 0.09	3.3 ± 0.09^b
	Postgraduate	13.0 ± 0.21	4.4 ± 0.09^b	4.5 ± 0.13^a	3.6 ± 0.13^b
Occupation	Civil Servant	12.6 ± 0.18	4.2 ± 0.08^a	4.3 ± 0.11	3.3 ± 0.10^a
	Business Owner	10.8 ± 0.20^a	4.4 ± 0.09^a	3.5 ± 0.12^a	3.4 ± 0.11^a
	Unemployed	10.9 ± 0.13^a	3.7 ± 0.06	3.2 ± 0.08^a	3.0 ± 0.08
Gender	Male	11.2 ± 0.13	4.0 ± 0.05^a	3.8 ± 0.06	3.3 ± 0.06
	Female	11.8 ± 0.14	4.1 ± 0.08^a	3.2 ± 0.12	3.0 ± 0.12

Means with the same superscript are not significantly different (p < 0.05).

SE: Standard error of mean; SS Cert.: Senior secondary certificate.

Table 3. Pearson correlation between knowledge, attitude, perception and practice scores.

		Knowledge	Attitude	Perception	Practice
Knowledge	r =	1	0.622	0.454	0.282
	p =		<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Attitude	r =	0.622	1	0.567	0.470
	p =	<0.001		<0.001	<0.001
Perception	r =	0.454	0.567	1	0.538
	p =	<0.001	<0.001		<0.001
Practice	r =	0.282	0.470	0.538	1
	p =	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
	n	713	713	713	713

n: Sample size; p: Precision; r: Ratio.