Knowledge and Practice Regarding Coronavirus Disease Prevention (COVID-19) Among Internally Displaced Persons in Camps in Central Darfur Region, Sudan

Abstract

Background: The lacking healthcare system services in conflict areas and the emergence of infection with a pandemic of coronavirus disease may exacerbate the humanitarian crisis among the camp residents in the central Dafur region of Sudan. Adequate knowledge and practices are vital to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the knowledge and practice regarding COVID-19 among internally displaced persons in Sudan.


Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected through an online survey using a self-administered questionnaire. Convenience sampling method was used for the internally displaced persons in two camps of Zalingei town, central Darfur region, Sudan.


Results: In total, 143 participants responded; 75 (52.4%) of them were female, while 68 (47.6%) were male; 49 (34.3%) were between the age of 50 and 60 years; 78 (54.5%) were formally uneducated; 126 (88.1%) did not have a chronic disease; and 56 (39.2%) knew about COVID-19 from their relatives and friends. The overall mean of participants’ knowledge toward COVID-19 was 3.68 (SD ± 0.60(, denoting good with a rate of 73.6% and that of the practice was 2.65 (SD ±1.08), denoting moderate with a rate of 53%. A positive correlation was seen between knowledge and practice (r = 0.700, p < 0.000). Statistically significant differences were observed between the mean score of knowledge and practice with age, education, and information sources (p < 0.0001). While graduates showed a higher knowledge (116.29, p = 0.000), secondary respondents showed a higher practice (115.04, p = 0.000) than others.


Conclusion: This study suggests educational intervention and awareness programs for uneducated and older people.

Keywords:

Darfur, camp residents, knowledge, practical measures, COVID-19

References
[1] Oldekop, J. A., Horner, R., Hulme, D., et al. (2020). COVID-19 and the case for global development. World Development, vol. 134, p. 105044.


[2] Puntmann, V. O., Carerj, M. L., Wieters, I., et al. (2020). Outcomes of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging in patients recently recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). JAMA Cardiology, vol. 5, no. 11, pp. 1265–1273. Retrieved from: https://jamanetwork.com/


[3] Hassan, S. A., Sheikh, F. N., Jamal, S., et al. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19): a review of clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment. Cureus, vol. 12, no. 3, p. e7355.


[4] Alah, M. A., Abdeen, S., and Kehyayan, V. (2020). The first few cases and fatalities of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization: a rapid review. Journal of Infection and Public Health, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 1367–1372.


[5] Shi, Y., Wang, J., Yang, Y., et al. (2020). Knowledge and attitudes of medical staff in Chinese psychiatric hospitals regarding COVID-19. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity - Health, vol. 4, p. 100064.


[6] Byanaku, A. and Ibrahim, M. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19: a quick online cross-sectional survey among Tanzanian residents. medRxiv. Retrieved from: https: //www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.26.20080820v2


[7] Singhal, T. (2020). A review of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Indian Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 87, 281–286.


[8] Zhong, B.-L. L., Luo, W., Li, H.-M. M., et al. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID 19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. International Journal of Biological Sciences, vol. 16, no. 10, p. 1745.


[9] Glover, R. E., van Schalkwyk, M. C. I., Akl, E. A., et al. (2020). A framework for identifying and mitigating the equity harms of COVID-19 policy interventions. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol. 128, pp. 35–48.


[10] Laskar, P., Yallapu, M. M., and Chauhan, S. C. (2020). ”Tomorrow never dies”: recent advances in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention modalities against coronavirus (COVID-19) amid controversies. Diseases, vol. 8, no. 3, p. 30.


[11] Li, Y. and Xia, L. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): role of chest CT in diagnosis and management. American Journal of Roentgenology, vol. 214, no. 6, pp. 1280–1286.


[12] Parvin, F., Islam, S., Urmy, Z., et al. (2020). The symptoms, contagious process, prevention and post treatment of COVID-19. European Journal of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Studies, vol. 1, no. 1.


[13] Olapegba, P. O., Ayandele, O., Kolawole, S. O., et al. (2020). A preliminary assessment of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) knowledge and perceptions in Nigeria. medRxiv. Retreived from: https://doi. org/10.1101/2020.04.11.20061408


[14] Geldsetzer, P. (2020). Knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 among the general public in the United States and the United Kingdom: a cross-sectional online survey. Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 173, no. 2, pp. 157–160.


[15] Mirza, T. M., Ali, R., and Khan, H. M. (2020). The knowledge and perception of COVID-19 and its preventive measures, in public of Pakistan. Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 338–345.


[16] Haque, T., Hossain, K. M., Bhuiyan, M. M. R., et al. (2020). Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 and assessment of risks of infection by SARS-CoV-2 among the Bangladeshi population: an online cross sectional survey. Research Square. Retrieved from: https://www. researchsquare.com/article/rs-24562/v1


[17] Doke, P., Rege, S., and Palkar, S. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward coronavirus disease 2019 among people in a tertiary care hospital in India. Infectious Disease in Clinical Practice, vol 28, no. 5, pp. 285–290


[18] Sayedahmed, A. M. S., Abdalla, A. A. A., and Khalid, M. H. M. (2020). Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding COVID-19 among Sudanese population during the early days of the pandemic: online crosssectional survey. Scientific African, vol. 10, p. e00652.


[19] Hassanain, S. A., Edwards, J. K., Venables, E., et al. (2018). Conflict and tuberculosis in Sudan: a 10-year review of the National Tuberculosis Programme, 2004–2014. Conflict and Health, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 18. Retrieved from: https://conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13031-018-0154-0


[20] Kranz, O., Sachs, A., and Lang, S. (2015). Assessment of environmental changes induced by internally displaced person (IDP) camps in the Darfur region, Sudan, based on multitemporal MODIS data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 190–210. Retrieved from: https://www. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01431161.2014.999386


[21] WHO. (2004). Health Aspects of the Humanitarian Crisis in the Greater Darfur Region of Sudan. WHO. Retrieved from: who.int/features/2004/darfur/en/


[22] WHO. (2020). Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Advice For the Public. WHO. Retrieved from: https: //www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public


[23] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2021). How to Protect Yourself & Others. CDC. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html


[24] WHO. (2020). Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Advice For the Public: Myth Busters. WHO. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/ myth-busters


[25] Pimentel, J. and Pimentel, J. L. (2019). Some biases in Likert scaling usage and its correction. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research. Retrieved from: http://gssrr.org/index. php?journal=JournalOfBasicAndApplied


[26] Goruntla, N., Bhupalam, P., Jinka, D. R., et al. (2020). Knowledge, perception, and practices towards COVID-19 pandemic among general public of India: a cross-sectional online survey. Current Medicine Research and Practice, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 153–159.


[27] Alawa, J., Al-Ali, S., Walz, L., et al. (). Knowledge and perception of COVID-19, Prevalence of pre-existing conditions, and access to essential resources and health services in Somali IDP camps. medRxiv. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.17.20176271


[28] Desalegn, Z., Deyessa, N., Teka, B., et al. (2021). COVID-19 and the public response: knowledge, attitude and practice of the public in mitigating the pandemic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PLoS One, vol. 16, no. 1, p. e0244780.


[29] Azlan, A. A., Hamzah, M. R., Sern, T. J., et al. (2020). Public knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Malaysia. PLoS One, vol. 15, no. 5, p. e0233668.


[30] Salman, M., Mustafa, Z. U., Asif, N., et al. (2020). Knowledge, attitude and preventive practices related to COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in two Pakistani university populations. Drugs & Therapy Perspectives. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7210795/