Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Email:
Oriire Local Government Health Authority, Ikoyi-Ile, Oyo State, Nigeria.
West Afr J Med. 2022 Jan 31;39(1):97-106.
In some parts of Africa, the patients and those who survived COVID-19 are stigmatized and this has impeded the response activities put in place to control the pandemic. In spite of this, most efforts in preventing COVID-19 were geared towards the use of non-pharmacologic measures without corresponding measures to dissipate stigmatization in the community. Therefore, this study assessed the factors associated with perceived stigmatization of patients with COVID-19 among residents of Agege local government, Lagos State, Nigeria.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 333 consenting residents recruited from Agege local government area (LGA) using a multi-stage sampling technique. A semistructure, interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from the People Living with Human Immunodefiency Virus (PLHIV) Stigma Index was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of COVID-19 and perceived stigmatization. Bivariate analysis was done using Chi-square and binary logistic regression was used to identify the determinants of perceived stigmatization at 5% level of significance.
The mean age of the respondents was 35.7 ± 13.6 years. Awareness about COVID-19 outbreak was 95.2%. Television (43.5%) and radio (36.9%) were the two major sources of information on COVID-19 infection and prevention. The proportions of the respondents who had poor knowledge and perceived stigmatization of COVID-19 patients were 50.0% and 47.7% respectively. A higher likelihood of perceived stigmatization was found among those aged 25 - 49 years (aOR= 3.1, 95% CI = 1.4 - 6.7), > 50 years (aOR= 2.1, 95% CI = 1.1 - 3.9) and married respondents (aOR= 1.8, 95% CI = 1.1 - 2.9).
The study highlights the poor knowledge about COVID-19 and a high level of stigmatization. Hence, targeted health educational interventions are urgently needed for the residents of Agege, most especially among married respondents as well as the adults.
在非洲的一些地区，新冠病毒患者和幸存者受到了污名化，这阻碍了为控制疫情而开展的应对活动。尽管如此，预防新冠病毒的大多数努力都侧重于使用非药物措施，而没有采取相应措施来消除社区中的污名化。因此，本研究评估了尼日利亚拉各斯州 Agege 地方政府区居民对新冠病毒患者的感知污名与哪些因素相关。
我们采用多阶段抽样技术，从 Agege 地方政府区（LGA）招募了 333 名同意参与的居民进行横断面调查。使用从人类免疫缺陷病毒（PLHIV）感染者耻辱指数改编的半结构式、访谈者管理的问卷收集社会人口统计学特征、新冠病毒知识和感知污名的数据。采用卡方检验进行单变量分析，采用二元逻辑回归在 5%水平上确定感知污名的决定因素。
受访者的平均年龄为 35.7 ± 13.6 岁。95.2%的人知道新冠疫情爆发。电视（43.5%）和广播（36.9%）是关于新冠病毒感染和预防的两个主要信息来源。知识水平差和对新冠病毒患者感知污名的受访者比例分别为 50.0%和 47.7%。年龄在 25-49 岁（优势比[OR]=3.1，95%置信区间[CI]=1.4-6.7）、50 岁以上（OR=2.1，95%CI=1.1-3.9）和已婚受访者（OR=1.8，95%CI=1.1-2.9）更有可能感知污名化。
本研究强调了对新冠病毒的知识水平差和高度污名化。因此，Agege 居民，尤其是已婚受访者和成年人，迫切需要有针对性的健康教育干预。
