Awareness and Practice of COVID-19 Precautionary Measures Among Healthcare Professionals in Saudi Arabia

Naif K Binsaleh; Abdulrahman S Bazaid; Abdu Aldarhami; Subuhi Sherwani; Omar W Althomali

doi:10.2147/JMDH.S317908

Awareness and Practice of COVID-19 Precautionary Measures Among Healthcare Professionals in Saudi Arabia

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2021 Jun 22:14:1553-1560. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S317908. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Naif K Binsaleh¹, Abdulrahman S Bazaid¹, Abdu Aldarhami², Subuhi Sherwani³, Omar W Althomali⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Medical Microbiology, Qunfudah Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Al-Qunfudah, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Physiotherapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Objective: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are the backbone of the healthcare system and a skilled and healthy workforce is vital during a health crisis, such as the present coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Healthcare workers are at higher risk of exposure to and transmission of the severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Hence, HCWs should possess good knowledge and attitudes toward COVID-19 to protect not only themselves but also their colleagues, families and the larger community. Thus, the current study aims to assess the knowledge and practice of protective measures by HCWs in Saudi Arabia during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify awareness of the disease, potential trends and associated predictors.

Methods: A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among HCWs about knowledge related to COVID-19 and practice of protective measures, such as social distancing and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic. A Fisher exact test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to investigate the level of association among variables.

Results: A total of 674 HCWs were recruited in the study (51.8% male, 42.7% aged 28-37 years old and 52% specialists). The Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) was the main source of knowledge for most of the HCWs (89%) followed by the WHO (44.5%) and social media (42.3%). Washing hands before touching the face was the most selected choice (97.9%) as a precautionary method to limit SARS-CoV2 transmission. Most of the HCWs (74.6%) scored low for staying at home while the majority (71.2%) showed a high practice of personal protective methods, with pharmacists and general physicians scoring the highest.

Conclusion: Saudi HCWs showed high knowledge and practice of protective measures for COVID-19. Good knowledge correlates with adoption of appropriate practices to prevent spread of infection. The current findings highlight the importance of interventions such as tailored education and training courses for those with low scores to improve overall knowledge and practice.

Keywords: COVID-19; healthcare workers; knowledge; practice; precautionary measures.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Scientific Research Deanship at University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia, through project reference number: COVID-1902.