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Abstract

Objective. The existence of asymptomatic carriers of a COVID-19, a contagious respiratory infection, might make the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by the public an inevitable practice. Our focus in this study is to assess the knowledge and attitude of Nigeria public with respect to the correct use of these personal protective equipment in preventing the spread of the disease. Methods. Prevention guidelines by Centre for Disease Control were considered in structuring questionnaire to assess PPE types, use and doffing protocol among the public in states with report of COVID-19 in Nigeria, between 1-31 March 2020. Results. Out of the five hundred and twenty two (522) respondents, 270 (51.7%) made use of PPE. Some of the justifications for not using the PPE were; less value on importance of PPE and reliance on divine protection. PPE used by the public were facemask (61.5%), gloves (2.6%) and a combination of facemask and gloves (35.9%). With respect to the doffing sequence in respondents using more than one PPE, error was reported in 85.7% of the respondents. Conclusion. Some of the findings in this work could indicate the contributing factors to the spread of COVID-19 infection in Nigeria. Hence, public enlightenment and creating awareness in the general population are equally as important as the recommendation of PPE use by the general public.

Keywords

Coronavirus disease-19; Massive Education; Nigeria Public; Personal Protective Equipment

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Jones Soladoye Akinbobola, Jerome Nyhalah Dinga, Ruth IA Akinbobola, & Kazeem A Tijani. (2022). Personal Protective Equipment Use Among the Public in Response to COVID-19 in Nigeria: A Need for Massive Education. HEALTH SCIENCES AND DISEASE, 23(9). https://doi.org/10.5281/hsd.v23i9.3893
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