Serwaa Dorcas, Lamptey Emmanuel, Appiah Anthony Baffour, Senkyire Ephraim Kumi, Ameyaw Jude Kyeremeh
Institute of Life and Earth Sciences (Including Health and Agriculture), Pan African University, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (GFELTP), School of Public Health, University of Ghana-Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Pan Afr Med J. 2020 May 20;35(Suppl 2):44. doi: 10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.35.2.22630. eCollection 2020.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is recognized as global pandemic, affecting more than 300,000 worldwide. Ghana joined the international community by confirming first two COVID-19 cases on March 12, 2020. The study aimed to assess the public knowledge, risk perception and preparedness to respond the COVID-19 in the early stage of the outbreak in Ghana.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect information from Ghanaian during the early stage of the outbreak from 12th to 20th March 2020. Electronic based questionnaire was developed to collected information on the public knowledge, risk perceptions and preparedness to respond the COVID-19. All people who were aged 18 years and over were invited to participate in the study.
A total of 350 participants were recruited into the analysis; 56% were males, with the majority of the study population aged between 18-30 years (61.4%), single (68.9%) and attained tertiary education (95.1%). Regarding COVID-19, 62.7% had "good" knowledge about the outbreak, 68.3% had a high risk of contracting the COVID-19 infection and 81.4% had a moderate preparedness skill to prevent and control the disease. Internet (77.1%) was the major sources of information. Knowledge of COVID-19 was significantly associated with education (p<0.001), age (p=0.018), employment (p=0.011) and health-related occupation (P=0.001) but only religion was associated with risk perception.
Though overall public knowledge was good, disparity exist among the least educated population, there was high risk perceptions and moderate preparedness skill to respond to COVID-19 among our study population. We recommend that educational campaigns through timely online update on COVID-19, van mobilization and mass media broadcasting should target all groups including those in the rural communities.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）被视为全球大流行疾病，全球感染人数超过30万。加纳于2020年3月12日确认了首批两例COVID-19病例，从而加入了国际社会。该研究旨在评估在加纳疫情爆发初期公众对COVID-19的了解、风险认知及应对准备情况。
于2020年3月12日至20日疫情爆发初期开展了一项横断面研究，以收集加纳人的相关信息。通过电子问卷收集公众对COVID-19的了解、风险认知及应对准备情况等信息。邀请所有18岁及以上人群参与本研究。
共350名参与者纳入分析；56%为男性，研究人群大多数年龄在18 - 30岁之间（61.4%），单身（68.9%），接受过高等教育（95.1%）。关于COVID-19，62.7%对疫情有“良好”了解，68.3%认为感染COVID-19风险高，81.4%具备预防和控制该疾病的中等应对能力。互联网（77.1%）是主要信息来源。对COVID-19的了解与教育程度（p<0.001）、年龄（p=0.018）、就业情况（p=0.011）及与健康相关职业（P=0.001）显著相关，但只有宗教信仰与风险认知有关。
尽管总体公众认知良好，但受教育程度最低人群之间存在差异，在我们的研究人群中对COVID-19的风险认知较高且应对能力中等。我们建议通过及时在线更新COVID-19信息、车辆流动宣传及大众媒体广播开展教育活动，目标人群应涵盖所有群体，包括农村社区人群。
