Knowledge, attitudes and practices of disease prevention among health talk-giving healthcare workers in primary health centres at Osogbo

Abstract

Background: Disease prevention measures such as creating public awareness are needed to protect the vulnerable populace from acquiring diseases. Knowledgeable health care workers are pivotal to this, and it therefore becomes imperative to assess health workers in this regard. The objective of this study was to ascertain the level of knowledge, the kind of attitude towards and practices of disease prevention among health-talk giving primary health care workers in Osogbo, south western Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study done among 204 respondents from 13 primary health care centres in Osogbo selected using multi-stage sampling technique. The research instrument used was a self-administered questionnaire analysed with SPSS 23.0. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were done as appropriate and a p-value of <0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: The results of this study revealed that at least nine out of ten respondents had good knowledge (90.2%) and positive attitude (94.1%) towards disease prevention. A greater proportion of doctors (100%) had good knowledge of disease prevention compared to other health workers while nurses took the lead in having a positive attitude (97.4%). Respondents had varying responses in their practices towards disease prevention, but generally speaking, most respondents who had good knowledge and positive attitudes also exhibited good practices. The only identifiable predictor of respondent's knowledge was level of education, (p=0.024 OR=0.157). Conclusion: The fact that about a tenth of respondents had poor knowledge and about 5% had negative attitude towards disease prevention is a major cause for concern. Since health talk-giving health workers interact directly with the populace, the potentially huge negative effects that this minority can have cannot be underestimated. Therefore, there is a need for close-monitoring and regular review of the kind of information given to clients as well as training and re-training of health workers.