Human and Social Capabilities Research Division, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
eResearch Knowledge Centre, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
Front Public Health. 2021 Apr 29;9:614858. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.614858. eCollection 2021.
Adequate information and knowledge about COVID-19 has been shown to induce the confidence and positive performance among healthcare workers (HCWs). Therefore, assessing the relationship between confidence in knowledge and associated factors among HCWs is vital in the fight against COVID-19. This paper investigates factors associated with HCWs' confidence in their overall knowledge about COVID-19 in South Africa in the early stages of the epidemic. Data utilized in this paper were from an online survey conducted among HCWs using a structured questionnaire on a data free online platform. The study population were all the medical fraternity in South Africa including medical and nurse practitioners as well as other healthcare professionals. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were performed to examine the factors associated with confidence in HCWs' overall knowledge about COVID-19. Overall, just below half (47.4%) of respondents indicated that they had confidence in their overall knowledge about COVID-19. Increased odds of having confidence in the knowledge about COVID-19 were significantly associated with being male [aOR = 1.31 95% CI (1.03-1.65), < 0.05], having a doctorate degree [aOR = 2.01 (1.23-3.28), < 0.05], being satisfied with the information about COVID-19 guidelines [aOR = 6.01 (4.89-7.39), < 0.001], having received training in 6-8 areas [aOR = 2.54 (1.89-3.43), < 0.001] and having received training in 9-11 areas [aOR = 5.33 (3.81-7.47), < 0.001], and having already treated COVID-19 patients [aOR = 1.43 (1.08-1.90), < 0.001]. Those who were highly concerned with the levels of training of HCWs [aOR = 0.47 (0.24-0.92), < 0.05] had decreased odds of having confidence in their overall knowledge about COVID-19. This study sheds light on the importance of capacitating HCWs with knowledge and adequate relevant training as part of infection prevention control measures during pandemics. Future training and information sharing should be sensitive to knowledge gaps by age, gender, qualifications, professional categories, and experience.
足够的关于 COVID-19 的信息和知识已被证明可以增强医护人员（HCWs）的信心和积极表现。因此，评估 HCWs 对 COVID-19 相关知识的信心与其相关因素之间的关系对于抗击 COVID-19 至关重要。本文研究了南非在疫情早期阶段，与 HCWs 对 COVID-19 总体知识的信心相关的因素。本文中使用的数据来自于一项在线调查，该调查是在一个免费的在线数据平台上使用结构化问卷对 HCWs 进行的。研究人群是南非所有医学专业人员，包括医生和护士以及其他医疗保健专业人员。进行了单变量和多变量逻辑回归模型，以检查与 HCWs 对 COVID-19 总体知识的信心相关的因素。总的来说，近一半（47.4%）的受访者表示他们对 COVID-19 的总体知识有信心。对 COVID-19 知识有信心的可能性显著增加，与男性[比值比（aOR）= 1.31，95%置信区间（CI）（1.03-1.65），<0.05]、博士学位[aOR = 2.01（1.23-3.28），<0.05]、对 COVID-19 指南信息满意[aOR = 6.01（4.89-7.39），<0.001]、接受过 6-8 个领域的培训[aOR = 2.54（1.89-3.43），<0.001]和接受过 9-11 个领域的培训[aOR = 5.33（3.81-7.47），<0.001]以及已经治疗过 COVID-19 患者[aOR = 1.43（1.08-1.90），<0.001]有关。那些对 HCWs 培训水平高度关注的人[aOR = 0.47（0.24-0.92），<0.05]对 COVID-19 总体知识有信心的可能性降低。这项研究强调了在大流行期间为 HCWs 提供知识和适当相关培训的重要性，这是感染预防和控制措施的一部分。未来的培训和信息共享应根据年龄、性别、资格、专业类别和经验，关注知识差距。
