Knowledge, attitude, and practices of front line health workers after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine: a cross-sectional study in Pakistan

PeerJ

article

Sadia Minhas¹  Aneequa Sajjad¹  Iram Manzoor²  Atika Masood³  Agha Suhail⁴  Gul Muhammad Shaikh⁵  Muhammad Kashif⁶ 

[1] Oral Pathology, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College;Community Medicine, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College;Pathology, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College;Operative Dentistry, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College;Dental Education and Research, Shahida Islam Medical and Dental College;Oral Pathology, Bakhtawar Amin Medical and Dental College

关键词: COVID-19;    Vaccine;    Health care workers;    Pakistan;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14727

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Globally, there is an increased risk of COVID-19 infection among front-line health workers (FHW). This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of FHW of Pakistan after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods A population web-based survey on COVID-19 vaccine was conducted on 635 FHW in Pakistan between April 15, 2021, and July 15, 2021. The survey focused on four main sections consisting of socio-demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and practices after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The data was analyzed on SPSS. p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results Overall, 60% of FHW were nervous before getting vaccinated, with the leading reason to get vaccinated being their concern to protect themselves and their community (53.4%). A majority of FHW had fear about the unseen side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine (59.7%) used in Pakistan, with the most common side effect reported as soreness at the injection site (39%). It has been noted that almost all of the FHW observed preventive practices after getting vaccinated. The results showed that married respondents had favorable practices towards COVID-19 vaccines (B = 0.53, p < 0.01) (B, unstandardized regression coefficient). It was also found that more informational sources (B = 0.19, p < 0.01), higher knowledge of vaccination (B = 0.15, p < 0.001), and favorable attitude toward vaccine (B = 0.12, p < 0.001) significantly predicted favorable practices toward COVID-19 vaccination. Conclusion The findings reflect that FHW, though they were worried about its side effects, have good knowledge and a positive attitude after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. This study is significant as the FHWs are a symbol for guidance, a reliable source of information, and an encouraging means of receiving COVID-19 vaccine for the general public. This study also reported that post-vaccination side effects were mild which will aid in reducing the vaccine hesitancy among the general Pakistani population.

【 授权许可】

CC BY