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Original Article
Knowledge, Perceptions and Practices of COVID19 Among the Came-roonian Population
Journal of Public Health in Africa | Vol 14, No 12 | a35 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2023.2718
| © 2024 Sylvain R.S. Njonnou, Esther A.M.S. Eloumba, Edwige Edwige Men-do, Raissa M.E. Mboule, Anne J.F. Sango, Fernando K. Lekpa, Marie-Josiane N. Essomba, Eric V. Balti, Christian N. Ouankou, Justin Djotah, Cedric F.E. Bangbang, Martin S. Sob-ze, Simeon P. Choukem
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 13 March 2024 | Published: 30 December 2023
Submitted: 13 March 2024 | Published: 30 December 2023
About the author(s)
Sylvain R.S. Njonnou, Department of Internal Medicine and specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; and, Dschang Regional Hospital Annex, Dschang, Cameroon; and, The University of Dschang Taskforce for the Elimination of COVID19 (UNITED#COVID19 ), Dschang, CameroonEsther A.M.S. Eloumba, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Yaounde, Cameroon; and, Yaounde Central Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon
Edwige Edwige Men-do, Departement of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon; and, Ebolowa Regional Hospital, Ebolowa, Cameroon
Raissa M.E. Mboule, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Anne J.F. Sango, aounde Central Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon; and, Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medicine and Biomedical Scienc-es, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon
Fernando K. Lekpa, Department of Internal Medicine and specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; and, The University of Dschang Taskforce for the Elimination of COVID19 (UNITED#COVID19 ), Dschang, Cameroon; and, Department of Internal Medicine, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon
Marie-Josiane N. Essomba, Yaounde Central Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon; and, Departement of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon;
Eric V. Balti, Department of Internal Medicine and specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; and, University of Dschang Taskforce for the Elimination of COVID19 (UNITED#COVID19 ), Dschang, Cameroon
Christian N. Ouankou, Department of Internal Medicine and specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; and, the University of Dschang Taskforce for the Elimination of COVID19 (UNITED#COVID19 ), Dschang, Cameroon
Justin Djotah, n/a
Cedric F.E. Bangbang, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Martin S. Sob-ze, The University of Dschang Taskforce for the Elimination of COVID19 (UNITED#COVID19 ), Dschang, Cameroon; and, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Simeon P. Choukem, Department of Internal Medicine and specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; and, University of Dschang Taskforce for the Elimination of COVID19 (UNITED#COVID19 ), Dschang, Cameroon; and, Department of Internal Medicine, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon
Full Text:
PDF (705KB)Abstract
Background: COVID19 is an emerging infectious disease that has spread all over the world and became a pandemic. Cameroon is the 7th most affected country in Africa, with most of the cases in metropoles. The main objective was to assess the knowledge, perceptions and practices of the Cameroonian populations about COVID19 infection. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 15th to July 15th, 2020; targeting all Cameroonians over 15 years old living in Cameroon. A standard Google Forms® questionnaire was submitted via social media (WhatsApp and Facebook particularly). The sampling was consecutive and not exhaustive. The data were processed on Excel 2016 and analyzed through EPI info 3.5. The questionnaire included knowledge, perceptions and practices about the disease’s existence, its functional signs, prevention and control. Knowledge, perceptions and practices were considered good for a response score ≥ 75% and poor for a score ≤ 25%. Intermediate scores were considered average and insufficient. Univariate and multivariate analyzes were performed to identify the factors associated with a significance level (p <0.05). Results: Of the 996 (507 males) participants, the median age was 26 ± 8 years. Health workers represented 20.8% of participants. A large proportion of the population (78.6%) had good knowledge, while more than half (56.5%) had good perceptions, but only (23.1%) had good practices. Having reached higher education (p = 0.007), and being a health worker (p = 0.0008) were associated with a good level of knowledge. High school education (p = 0.040) and being a health worker (p = 0.049) were associated mwith positive perceptions. Being employed (p = 0.003) and having secondary education level (p = 0.033) were associated with good practices. Conclusion: Knowledge and perceptions were good among the study population, but the practice level is still insufficient to effectively fight the COVID19 pandemic. Educational level, being employed or being healthcare workers were associated with good knowledge, perceptions and practices.
Keywords
Knowledge; perceptions; practices; Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID19); Cameroon
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