Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 15;16(3):e0248189. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248189. eCollection 2021.
The novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic with an increasing public health concern. Due to the non-availability of a vaccine against the disease, non-pharmaceutical interventions constitute major preventive and control measures. However, inadequate knowledge about the disease and poor perception might limit compliance. This study examined COVID-19-related knowledge, practices, perceptions and associated factors amongst undergraduate veterinary medical students in Nigeria. A cross-sectional web survey was employed to collect data from 437 consenting respondents using pre-tested self-administered questionnaire (August 2020). Demographic factors associated with the knowledge and adoption of recommended preventive practices towards COVID-19 were explored using multivariate logistic regression at P ≤ 0.05. The respondents' mean knowledge and practice scores were 22.7 (SD ± 3.0) and 24.1 (SD ± 2.9), respectively with overall 63.4% and 88.8% displaying good knowledge and satisfactory practice levels. However, relatively lower proportions showed adherence to avoid touching face or nose (19.5%), face mask-wearing (58.1%), and social distancing (57.4%). Being in the 6th year of study (OR = 3.18, 95%CI: 1.62-6.26, P = 0.001) and female (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.11-4.41, P = 0.024) were significant positive predictors of good knowledge and satisfactory practices, respectively. While only 30% of the respondents perceived the pandemic as a scam or a disease of the elites (24.0%), the respondents were worried about their academics being affected negatively (55.6%). Veterinary Medical Students in Nigeria had good knowledge and satisfactory preventive practices towards COVID-19; albeit with essential gaps in the key non-pharmaceutical preventive measures recommended by the WHO. Therefore, there is a need to step up enlightenment and targeted campaigns about COVID-19 pandemic.
新型冠状病毒 SARS-CoV-2（COVID-19）是一种具有日益增长的公共卫生关注度的全球大流行疾病。由于目前尚无针对该疾病的疫苗，因此非药物干预措施构成了主要的预防和控制措施。但是，对疾病的了解不足和认识较差可能会限制人们的配合程度。本研究检查了尼日利亚兽医学本科学生对 COVID-19 的相关知识、实践、认知和相关因素。2020 年 8 月，采用横断面网络调查，使用预先测试的自我管理问卷从 437 名同意的受访者中收集数据。使用多元逻辑回归在 P ≤ 0.05 时，探索与知识和采用针对 COVID-19 的推荐预防措施相关的人口统计学因素。受访者的平均知识和实践得分为 22.7（SD ± 3.0）和 24.1（SD ± 2.9），分别有 63.4％和 88.8％的人具有良好的知识和满意的实践水平。但是，相对较低的比例显示出遵守避免触摸脸部或鼻子（19.5％），戴口罩（58.1％）和保持社交距离（57.4％）的意愿。处于第 6 学年（OR = 3.18，95％CI：1.62-6.26，P = 0.001）和女性（OR = 2.22，95％CI = 1.11-4.41，P = 0.024）是良好知识和满意实践的显著正预测因素。尽管只有 30％的受访者认为大流行是骗局或精英疾病（24.0％），但受访者担心自己的学业会受到负面影响（55.6％）。尼日利亚的兽医学本科学生对 COVID-19 具有良好的知识和满意的预防措施；尽管在世界卫生组织推荐的关键非药物预防措施方面存在明显差距。因此，有必要加强对 COVID-19 大流行的宣传和有针对性的宣传活动。
