Knowledge and Risk Perception of COVID-19 Nosocomial Infection among Attendees of Primary Healthcare Facilities in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Nigeria

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide, with the risk of nosocomial infections emerging as a critical concern. The level of knowledge and risk perception could prompt individuals to take precautionary measures and reduce the spread. This study aims to determine the knowledge and risk perception of COVID-19 nosocomial infection among attendees at primary healthcare facilities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used in the study where an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from attendees of the selected healthcare facilities. Multistage sampling methods were used to select respondents from Gwagwa, Gwarimpa and Kabusa wards of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). The questionnaire was collated and data was analyzed using SPSS Version 23. Chi-square tests was performed on respondents' socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and risk perception of COVID-19 nosocomial infection. The result of the findings revealed that majority of the participants were female (74%), aged 25-34(57%) mostly civil servants (29.2%) with tertiary education (45%). Many of the respondents had good knowledge of COVID-19 nosocomial infection (87.7%) as all the respondents heard about COVID-19 mostly through mass media (84.8%). The respondents’ risk perception to COVID-19 nosocomial infection was high (91.6%) with high level of adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures (70.44%). Many of the respondents expressed lack of disinfectants, clean water and high prices of items to be the barriers hindering them from fully protecting themselves against COVID-19. The statistical analysis showed that knowledge and risk perception of COVID-19 nosocomial infection is affected by factors such as age, religion, level of education and occupation as they were statistically significant. The study generally showed high level of knowledge and risk perception of COVID-19 nosocomial infection as well as adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures despite the challenges by some social factors like age, education and occupation.