Mothers’ knowledge and practice on prevention of COVID-19 in Sinna Urani Area, Batticaloa in Sri Lanka.

Abstract

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the worst global crisis. Still, there is no specific treatment for this pandemic disease. Very recently vaccination has started. So, it would be controlled and prevented only by knowledge and practice on the prevention of COVID-19 in the community. Thus, this study aimed to assess knowledge, and practice on the prevention of COVID-19 among mothers in Sinna Urani, Batticaloa in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study is to assess mothers' knowledge and practice on the prevention of COVID-19 in the Sinna Urani area, Batticaloa in Sri Lanka. It would be useful to formulate strategies that can be used to prevent further spreading of COVID-19 and improve the knowledge and awareness of mothers. A Community-Based Descriptive Cross-Sectional Quantitative study was conducted from October 2020 to September 2021 among 305 mothers from Sinna Urani Public Health Midwifery (PHM) area in Batticaloa. Participants were selected using simple random sampling method and a pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 25 (SPSSV 25) was used to enter and analyze the data. Of the 305 mothers recruited for this study, 25% of participants had adequate knowledge about the absence of effective treatment on COVID–19 and 97% of participants has adequate knowledge about vaccines for COVID -19. Regarding hand hygiene, most mothers (91.8%) used water with soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizers (86.6%). But some used normal water only (15.4%) for hand hygiene. Overall knowledge on the prevention of COVID-19 was adequate in the majority (92.5%). Most of the mothers (87.2%) had adequate overall practice on the prevention of COVID–19. There is a significant association and medium relationship between educational level and overall knowledge on prevention of COVID – 19 (Chi-square=14.922, df=6, p=0.021, Cramer’s V=0.139) and overall practice on prevention of COVID–19 (Chi-square=12.115, df=3, p=0.007, Cramer’s V=0.199) in this study. Knowledge and practice on the prevention of COVID –19 among mothers in this study were adequate in many aspects.