COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022
Background: Adherence to COVID-19 prevention and control measures is related to people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices. Setting: In Thabo Mofutsanyana District, the proportion of reported community COVID-19-related deaths was higher than in-facility reported deaths. Aim: To assess knowledge,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Public Health in Africa |
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| Online Access: | https://publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/885 |
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| author | Inge Kleinhans Siphesihle K. Mahanjana Lehlohonolo Kumalo Brian Brümmer Ashley Chitaka Zandile D. Nukeri Fiona Els Sizeka Mashele Michelle Groome Natalie Mayet Ramasedi S. Mokoena Emily B. Atuheire Joy I. Ebonwu |
| author_facet | Inge Kleinhans Siphesihle K. Mahanjana Lehlohonolo Kumalo Brian Brümmer Ashley Chitaka Zandile D. Nukeri Fiona Els Sizeka Mashele Michelle Groome Natalie Mayet Ramasedi S. Mokoena Emily B. Atuheire Joy I. Ebonwu |
| author_sort | Inge Kleinhans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Adherence to COVID-19 prevention and control measures is related to people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices.
Setting: In Thabo Mofutsanyana District, the proportion of reported community COVID-19-related deaths was higher than in-facility reported deaths.
Aim: To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of the community towards COVID-19.
Methods: A survey was conducted among consenting adults from 28 February 2022 to 4 March 2022. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the responses and logistic regression used to assess factors associated with poor knowledge towards COVID-19.
Results: A total of 551 participants’ data were analysed, most of whom were 40 years (63%) and female (68%). Despite 43.4% having education levels below high school, 89% knew that anyone could contract COVID-19, mainly through television and/or radio (74%) and social media (53%). The majority practiced mask-wearing (84%) and social distancing (80%), while 65% indicated they will use home remedies if there was severe COVID-19 infection. Older age group (OR = 2.40; 95% CI 1.17-4.89; p = 0.015), higher education level (OR = 0.59; 95% CI 0.39–0.87; p = 0.009) and higher monthly income were each associated with poor knowledge towards COVID-19 but the significance did not remain in multivariate model.
Conclusion: Participants had good knowledge of COVID-19; however, a high proportion supported the use of home remedies in severe COVID-19 infections. This underscores the need to enhance the health-seeking behaviour of communities through health education and community engagement, using television and/or radio and social media.
Contribution: Study findings are useful to inform preparedness and response strategies in communities. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-df9051e452b14a31beb1f935f1cd90b4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2038-9922 2038-9930 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Public Health in Africa |
| spelling | doaj-art-df9051e452b14a31beb1f935f1cd90b42025-08-20T03:29:27ZengAOSISJournal of Public Health in Africa2038-99222038-99302025-06-01161e1e810.4102/jphia.v16i1.885880COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022Inge Kleinhans0Siphesihle K. Mahanjana1Lehlohonolo Kumalo2Brian Brümmer3Ashley Chitaka4Zandile D. Nukeri5Fiona Els6Sizeka Mashele7Michelle Groome8Natalie Mayet9Ramasedi S. Mokoena10Emily B. Atuheire11Joy I. Ebonwu12Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Department of Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, PretoriaDivision of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Department of Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, PretoriaDivision of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, JohannesburgDivision of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, JohannesburgDivision of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, JohannesburgDivision of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, JohannesburgCentre for Vaccines and Immunology, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Division of the National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Gauteng City-Region Observatory, JohannesburgNational Cancer Registry, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Society, Gender and Health Unit, Faculty of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwill, Switzerland; and Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, BaselVaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, JohannesburgNational Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, JohannesburgDepartment of Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, BloemfonteinDivision of Surveillance and Disease Intelligence, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis AbabaDivision of Surveillance and Disease Intelligence, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis AbabaBackground: Adherence to COVID-19 prevention and control measures is related to people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices. Setting: In Thabo Mofutsanyana District, the proportion of reported community COVID-19-related deaths was higher than in-facility reported deaths. Aim: To assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of the community towards COVID-19. Methods: A survey was conducted among consenting adults from 28 February 2022 to 4 March 2022. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the responses and logistic regression used to assess factors associated with poor knowledge towards COVID-19. Results: A total of 551 participants’ data were analysed, most of whom were 40 years (63%) and female (68%). Despite 43.4% having education levels below high school, 89% knew that anyone could contract COVID-19, mainly through television and/or radio (74%) and social media (53%). The majority practiced mask-wearing (84%) and social distancing (80%), while 65% indicated they will use home remedies if there was severe COVID-19 infection. Older age group (OR = 2.40; 95% CI 1.17-4.89; p = 0.015), higher education level (OR = 0.59; 95% CI 0.39–0.87; p = 0.009) and higher monthly income were each associated with poor knowledge towards COVID-19 but the significance did not remain in multivariate model. Conclusion: Participants had good knowledge of COVID-19; however, a high proportion supported the use of home remedies in severe COVID-19 infections. This underscores the need to enhance the health-seeking behaviour of communities through health education and community engagement, using television and/or radio and social media. Contribution: Study findings are useful to inform preparedness and response strategies in communities.https://publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/885covid-19knowledgeattitudespracticescommunity deathsthabo mofutsanyanafree statesouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Inge Kleinhans Siphesihle K. Mahanjana Lehlohonolo Kumalo Brian Brümmer Ashley Chitaka Zandile D. Nukeri Fiona Els Sizeka Mashele Michelle Groome Natalie Mayet Ramasedi S. Mokoena Emily B. Atuheire Joy I. Ebonwu COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022 Journal of Public Health in Africa covid-19 knowledge attitudes practices community deaths thabo mofutsanyana free state south africa |
| title | COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022 |
| title_full | COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022 |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022 |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022 |
| title_short | COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes and practices in Thabo Mofutsanyana District, South Africa, 2022 |
| title_sort | covid 19 knowledge attitudes and practices in thabo mofutsanyana district south africa 2022 |
| topic | covid-19 knowledge attitudes practices community deaths thabo mofutsanyana free state south africa |
| url | https://publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/885 |
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