Epidemiology and Determinants of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Preventing COVID-19 Positive Patients at Southern Tigray Ethiopia: A Facility Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract Background: The novel corona virus is a serious health problem world widely and is spreading in an immune naive population. Deaths are rising sharply, and health systems are under strain. There are confirmed cases of the virus in Ethiopia that found to have the problem. Therefore, the present study intended to assess epidemiology and determinant of knowledge, attitude, and practice of preventing COVID-19 positive patients at Southern Tigray Ethiopia. Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from August 6, to October 26, 2020 in selected health care facilities of south Tigray. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe the characteristics of the cross-section and to estimate the prevalence of clients having knowledge, attitude and practice of prevention. Bivariate analysis was performed using binary logistic regression. Results: A total of 170 COVID-19 positive patients were involved and eligible on the survey with the response rate of 98%. Of these participants, 106(62.4%) were male. Over half (51.2%) of the COVID-19 positive patients had good knowledge on transmission of COVID-19; about 64.4% had more accurate knowledge on prevention; ; about 62.9% had more positive attitude on prevention; and about half, 47.1% had poor practices of the precautionary measures against COVID-19. Participants who had more accurate knowledge for preventing COVID-19and more positive attitude of preventing COVID-19were 95%times (AOR=0.05, 95% CI =0.012 – 0.18) and 68% (AOR=0.32, 95% CI = 0.1 - 1.02) less likely, respectively, to implement the precautionary measures of COVID-19. Conclusion: Our findings suggest the need for effective and tailored health education programs aimed at improving COVID-19 knowledge, thereby leading to more favorable attitudes and to implementation and maintenance of safe practices.