Knowledge, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 screening and vaccine uptake among women attending Maimusari Primary Healthcare in Jere Local Government, North East, Nigeria

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, caused over 6.8 million deaths globally as of March 2023. The knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of people to COVID-19 varied in different locations around the world. In this study, we investigated the KAP of women attending Maimusari Primary Healthcare in Jere Local Government, Borno state during the pandemic with a view to understanding the KAP related to COVID-19 across different demographics of women. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out using self-administered questionnaire on 400 women attending the health facility. The questionnaire surveyed participants' demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, practices, and willingness to take vaccine. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data. Results: Of the 400 participants, a higher proportion were between the ages of 20 and 29 (36.2%), Kanuri by tribe (47.2%), from monogamous family (66.0%) with less than 5 in terms of family size (64.8%) with no formal education (57.8%). The overall mean knowledge score was 13.64 +/- 2.36, which differs significantly (p < 0.05) among age, ethnic group, marital status, family size and educational level. Educational level (chi 2 = 12.329, p = 0.000) and age (chi 2 = 58.943, p = 0.000) were associated with having good knowledge while ethnic group (chi 2 = 52.59, p = 0.000) and family size (chi 2 = 4.32, p = 0.038) were associated with having a positive attitude. Finally, 68.8% of the respondents were willing to get vaccinated while 82.2% considers the vaccines are safe. Conclusion: The findings in this study suggest that after the peak of the pandemic, majority of the respondents demonstrated good knowledge, positive attitude and undertook safe practices toward minimizing the transmission of COVID-19. However, over 60% have not taken the vaccine suggesting the need for improved awareness on vaccine safety.