COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers and associated factors in urban areas of Ethiopia

• Published in: PloS one 2021-08, Vol.16 (8), p.e0253452
• Main Authors: Natnael, Tarikuwa, Adane, Metadel, Alemnew, Yeshiwork, Andualem, Atsedemariam, Hailu, Faris
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Evaluation; Health aspects; Health behavior; Medicine and Health Sciences; People and Places; Physical Sciences; Public health administration; Social Sciences; Taxicab drivers
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253452

Although several studies have been conducted on COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and prevention practices among healthcare workers and the general population, there has not been any study among taxi drivers in Ethiopia, including Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, the lack of which hinders providing evidence-based interventions to this target group. Thus, this study was designed to contribute to proper planning of COVID-19 intervention measures among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 417 taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town during July to August, 2020. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and an observational checklist. The collected data was checked, coded and entered to EpiData version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 for data cleaning and analysis. The outcome variables of this study were good or poor knowledge, positive or negative attitude and good or poor frequent hand hygiene practices towards COVID-19. Bivariate (Crude Odds Ratio [COR]) and multivariable (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]) logistic regression analysis were employed to identify factors significantly associated with good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers. Significance level of variables was declared at a p < 0.05 from the adjusted analysis. We concluded that the rates of good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices were relatively low among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town. We strongly recommended providing training about COVID-19 prevention measures for taxi drivers that considers age, education status and attitude areas essential to improve their knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19.