Centre for Public Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya.
Moi University.
Int Health. 2023 May 2;15(3):318-325. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihac049.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a severe acute respiratory disease. The Kenyan Ministry of Health (MoH) put in place measures that included mandatory face masking, hand and cough hygiene and social and physical distancing to reduce disease transmission and increase prevention efforts. The primary objective of this study was to determine how sociodemographic characteristics affect knowledge and practice of the above measures.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess water, sanitation and hygiene practices for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Kilifi and Mombasa Counties, Kenya. Data collection was accomplished through a mobile data collection tool. Principal component analysis was used to create a wealth index using data on asset ownership and housing characteristics. Bloom cut-off points of 80-100%, 60-79% and ≤59% were used to determine knowledge and practice.
Of the 612 households, 339 (55.4%) were from Kilifi County and 273 (44.6%) were from Mombasa County. A total of 431 (70.4%) were female and the mean age of the household members was 38.2±14.8 y.Almost all (99.2%) respondents were aware of COVID-19, with 60% knowing prevention, symptoms and persons at a higher risk of contracting the virus. Females had the highest knowledge of COVID-19 and were likely to practice prevention and control measures, unlike males. Age was significant (p<0.05) with knowledge and practice.
The sociodemographic characteristics of populations play a key role in behavioural aspects as far as prevention and control of COVID-19 are concerned. There is a need for partnerships between the MoH and county governments to put in place a multisectoral community approach to advance feasible behavioural interventions among targeted populations towards combating the spread of COVID-19.
世界卫生组织（WHO）宣布 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）为全球大流行疾病，这是一种严重的急性呼吸道疾病。肯尼亚卫生部（MoH）采取了措施，包括强制戴口罩、洗手和咳嗽卫生以及社会和身体距离，以减少疾病传播并增加预防工作。本研究的主要目的是确定社会人口统计学特征如何影响上述措施的知识和实践。
在肯尼亚的基利菲和蒙巴萨县进行了一项横断面研究，以评估水、环境卫生和个人卫生措施在预防和控制 COVID-19 中的作用。数据收集通过移动数据收集工具完成。使用资产所有权和住房特征数据进行主成分分析以创建财富指数。使用 80-100%、60-79%和≤59%的 Bloom 截断点来确定知识和实践。
在 612 户家庭中，339 户（55.4%）来自基利菲县，273 户（44.6%）来自蒙巴萨县。共有 431 户（70.4%）为女性，家庭成员的平均年龄为 38.2±14.8 岁。几乎所有（99.2%）受访者都了解 COVID-19，其中 60%的人了解预防、症状和感染病毒风险较高的人群。女性对 COVID-19 的了解程度最高，并且可能会采取预防和控制措施，而男性则不然。年龄在知识和实践方面具有统计学意义（p<0.05）。
就 COVID-19 的预防和控制而言，人口的社会人口统计学特征在行为方面起着关键作用。卫生部和县政府之间需要建立伙伴关系，采取多部门社区方法，在目标人群中推进可行的行为干预措施，以打击 COVID-19 的传播。
