ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Knowledge of standard precautions and barriers to compliance among healthcare workers in the Lower Manya Krobo District, Ghana

Background: Implementing standard precautions (SP) has been a major challenge for health care workers (HCWs) especially those in developing countries thereby compromising their safety and increasing their exposure to blood-related pathogens. Compliance with safety precautions and occupational accidents among health workers are often unreported. The literature on knowledge and compliance to SP in Ghana is scanty. We report findings of a study that examined knowledge of SP, compliance and barriers to compliance with SP among HCWs in two health facilities in Ghana. Methods: This is a facility-based cross-sectional study involving 100 HCWs from two health facilities in the Lower Manya Krobo District of the Eastern region. Statistical analysis summarised data on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, knowledge of SP and compliance and barriers to SP in frequencies and percentages. Results: Most respondents had been working as health staff for 0-5 years (65.0%). Generally, knowledge of the basic concepts of SP was low; only 37.0% of HCWs knew that SP includes hand washing before and after any direct contact with the patient, 39.0% knew about cough etiquettes and 40.0% knew about aseptic techniques which involve infection prevention strategies to minimise the risks of infection. Fifty percent of respondents always protect themselves against BBFs of patients. About a quarter of the respondents do not recap needles after use and 28.0% of respondents sometimes promptly wipe all blood spills. HCWs were of the opinion that wearing PPEs - such as gloves, aprons, gowns and goggles - might cause patients to panic sometimes (63.0%) and complying with SP sometimes interferes with the ability to provide care (38.0%). Sometimes, because of the demands of patient care, HCWs do not have enough time to comply with the rigours of SP (44.0%) and sometimes PPEs are not available. Conclusion: Education programmes on the benefits of SP should be organised frequently. The OHS national policy together with the application of the IPC training manual in all health care facilities must be enforced. Communities of practice should be established and sanctions and rewards should be introduced to limit negative behavior and reinforce positive attitudes as regards SP.

Source: UG
Knowledge of standard precautions and barriers to compliance among healthcare workers in the Lower Manya Krobo District, Ghana

Background: Implementing standard precautions (SP) has been a major challenge for health care workers (HCWs) especially those in developing countries thereby compromising their safety and increasing their exposure to blood-related pathogens. Compliance with safety precautions and occupational accidents among health workers are often unreported. The literature on knowledge and compliance to SP in Ghana is scanty. We report findings of a study that examined knowledge of SP, compliance and barriers to compliance with SP among HCWs in two health facilities in Ghana. Methods: This is a facility-based cross-sectional study involving 100 HCWs from two health facilities in the Lower Manya Krobo District of the Eastern region. Statistical analysis summarised data on socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, knowledge of SP and compliance and barriers to SP in frequencies and percentages. Results: Most respondents had been working as health staff for 0-5 years (65.0%). Generally, knowledge of the basic concepts of SP was low; only 37.0% of HCWs knew that SP includes hand washing before and after any direct contact with the patient, 39.0% knew about cough etiquettes and 40.0% knew about aseptic techniques which involve infection prevention strategies to minimise the risks of infection. Fifty percent of respondents always protect themselves against BBFs of patients. About a quarter of the respondents do not recap needles after use and 28.0% of respondents sometimes promptly wipe all blood spills. HCWs were of the opinion that wearing PPEs - such as gloves, aprons, gowns and goggles - might cause patients to panic sometimes (63.0%) and complying with SP sometimes interferes with the ability to provide care (38.0%). Sometimes, because of the demands of patient care, HCWs do not have enough time to comply with the rigours of SP (44.0%) and sometimes PPEs are not available. Conclusion: Education programmes on the benefits of SP should be organised frequently. The OHS national policy together with the application of the IPC training manual in all health care facilities must be enforced. Communities of practice should be established and sanctions and rewards should be introduced to limit negative behavior and reinforce positive attitudes as regards SP. © 2017 The Author(s).

Source: UG
Knowledge Repositories for Managing Knowledge in Learning Organizations

Learning organizations create a phenomenal amount of scholarly knowledge as part of their academic discourse and research activities. This scholarly knowledge must be preserved and made accessible to other members. The absence of tools and strategies to facilitate the storage and accessibility of knowledge and information resources poses lots of challenges for the growth of learning organizations, particularly, learning organizations in Ghana. This study, therefore, sought to assess the deployment of knowledge repositories in learning organizations toward effective knowledge creation, use, sharing, retention, and retrieval. The study employed the triangulation design and online survey research. The triangulation helped in the collection of quantitative data followed by qualitative instruments (interviews) to find answers to pertinent questions and issues that were insufficiently addressed in the questionnaire responses. Nine (9) learning organizations in Ghana participated in this study. The study established that knowledge repositories and technology played critical roles in managing knowledge in learning organizations. However, the knowledge repositories were not user-friendly and fully utilized or accessible for knowledge management practices at the learning organizations. Also, the absence of fully integrated ICT Tools and Infrastructure inhibited the effective promotion of knowledge management initiatives at the learning organizations. The study concludes by developing a knowledge repository architecture for knowledge management in learning organizations.

Source: UG
Knowledge sharing among employees in Ghanaian Industries

This study investigates the effects of organizational culture (OC) and transformational leadership (TL) style on knowledge sharing (KS). The presence of transformational culture and communal culture in industries in Ghana was ascertained. Survey research design was used. The simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample size of the study. Questionnaire was used for the data collection. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. The findings show presence of communal culture in industries in Ghana. Again, it was found that OC is a significant predictor of KS. The study also found that leadership in industries lack TL qualities. Furthermore, TL insignificantly contributes to KS.

Source: UG
Knowledge sharing among teachers: the role of the Big Five Personality traits

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effect of personality traits on knowledge-sharing attitude and behaviour among teachers. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a survey research. Convenience sampling technique was used to select the sample of 300 respondents out of which 247 was used in the final analysis. Data was analysed using hierarchical regression. Findings – The results indicate that the Big Five Personality traits have effects on knowledge-sharing attitude and behaviour of teachers. With the exception of conscientiousness trait, all the traits used in this study cause a significant change in the variations of the knowledge-sharing attitude and behaviour of the teachers. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the study is the use of the convenient sampling technique in choosing the subject; however, this was because there was no sampling frame, making it difficult to use probability-sampling technique. Originality value – This study contributes to the growing literature on the relationships among personality traits and knowledge sharing attitude and behaviour.

Source: UG
Knowledge sharing idiosyncrasies of university students in Ghana

This study explored the factors affecting knowledge sharing behaviour of students in a higher institution of learning. Using a model derived from the Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Reason Action, six hypotheses were tested from a cross-sectional data collected from 371 undergraduate students on a 4-year degree programme in the University of Ghana. Five out of the six hypotheses were supported. The results showed that the knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) of the students was significantly related to five of the human and environmental factors (F=639.9, df=5, 290, p<0.05) with a co- efficient of variation of R2=0.917 (91.7%). The knowledge sharing behavior of the students was, however, not significantly dependent on their personal characteristics. The study makes a case for increased attention in understanding the human and environmental factors of knowledge sharing since knowledge sharing is largely a people activity shaped by culture. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2014.

Source: UG
Knowledge Sharing Idiosyncrasies of University Students in Ghana

This study explored the factors affecting knowledge sharing behaviour of students in a higher institution of learning. Using a model derived from the Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Reason Action, six hypotheses were tested from a cross-sectional data collected from 371 undergraduate students on a 4-year degree programme in the University of Ghana. Five out of the six hypotheses were supported. The results showed that the knowledge sharing behaviour (KSB) of the students was significantly related to five of the human and environmental factors (F=639.9, df=5, 290, p<0.05) with a co-efficient of variation of R2=0.917 (91.7%). The knowledge sharing behavior of the students was, however, not significantly dependent on their personal characteristics. The study makes a case for increased attention in understanding the human and environmental factors of knowledge sharing since knowledge sharing is largely a people activity shaped by culture

Source: UG
Knowledge, And Attitude Of Service User Of Intermittent Preventive Treatment Of Malaria In Pregnancy Using Sulfadoxine Pyrimethamine In The Volta Region Of Ghana.

Background Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) is a condition that can be prevented by using intermittent preven tive treatment using Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. However, despite all the effort to reduce the consequences of MiP for the woman, the unborn child, and the neonate, the knowledge of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in pregnancy using sulfadoxine-pyrimeth amine (IPTp-SP) is low in most malaria-endemic countries, including Ghana. Thus, the need to examine knowledge, and attitude of service users of intermittent preventive treat ment of malaria in pregnancy using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Methods The study was a cross-sectional survey of two selected districts in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study participants were randomly selected from communities within Nkwanta North and North Tongu District. In all a total of 438 mothers who have delivered in the past 24 months were selected for the study. The women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and the bivariate and multivariable logistic regression results presented in tables. Results The level of knowledge, and attitude were reported as 45.9% and 58.9% respectively. Knowledge of the service user is determined by the level of education of the women. The attitude of the service user is determined by making 4–7 visits during ANC, Gestational age at booking for ANC is 4–7 weeks, income level between 100 to 999, partner educational level above Middle/JHS/JSS, and age of a partner is above 40 years. Conclusion The findings from the present studies highlighted important factor such as number of antenatal visits that affect both knowledge of services and attitude to use IPTp-SP. Therefore, a community-based health promotion programmes to help to increase knowledges and improved attitude on timely and regular antenatal attendance to promote the benefit of IPTp-SP should be encouraged.

Source: UG
Knowledge, attitude and perception of West Africans towards COVID-19: a survey to inform public health intervention

Background: The first case of the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in West Africa was first confirmed in Nigeria in February 2020. Since then, several public health interventions and preventive measures have been implemented to curtail transmission of the causative agent, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2). Therefore, this study was performed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of West Africans towards COVID-19. Methods: An online survey was conducted between 29 September to 29 October 2020 among West Africans. Thirty-three survey questions were designed to collect sociodemographic data and participants’ knowledge, attitude and perception towards COVID-19. The study targeted all West African nationals who were 18 years and above, and willing to participate in the study. Participants were either in-country or abroad. Results: Overall, 1106 respondents (≥18 years) from 16 West African countries, with about 12.1% of them residing outside the West African sub region, participated in the survey. The respondents had an average COVID-19 knowledge score of 67.82 ± 8.31, with knowledge of the disease significantly associated with the country of residence (p = 0.00) and marginally (p = 0.05) so with settlement types (i.e., urban, suburban and rural areas). Most respondents (93.4%) could identify the main COVID-19 symptoms, and 73.20% would consult a healthcare professional if infected with SARS-CoV-2. Also, 75.2% of the respondents are willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, whereas 10.40% and 14.40% are unwilling and undecided, respectively. Perceptions of what constitute COVID-19 preventive measures were highly variable. Approximately, 8% of the respondents felt that their government responded excellently in managing the pandemic while a third felt that the response was just good. Also, more than half (54%) opined that isolation and treatment of COVID-19 patients is a way of curbing SARS-CoV-2 spread. Conclusions: Most West Africans have basic knowledge of COVID-19 and showed a positive attitude, with likely pro‑ active practice towards the disease. However, results showed that these varied across countries and are influenced by the types of settlements. Therefore, the health and education authorities in various countries should develop focused measures capturing people in different settlements to improve their preventative measures when designing public health interventions for COVID-19 and any future epidemics or pandemics.

Source: UG
Knowledge, attitude and practice universal basic precautions by medical personnel in a teaching hospital

Background Universal Basic Precautions (UBP) are not well understood nor implemented by health professionals, though crucial in HIV/AIDS prevention. As defined by Garner, UBP refers to “the prevention of transmission of blood borne pathogens like HIV through strict respect by health workers of rules concerning care and nursing” Objectives To find out knowledge and attitudes of medical personnel doctors in the Department of Surgery of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to HIV transmission and to find out their current practices of UBP in surgery. Methods The study was carried out using a structured questionnaire which was self administered to fifty medical personnel after preliminary introduction at a plenary session. Results Results showed that alleged knowledge did not match actual tested knowledge (92% verses 71%). Knowledge of all the forms of HIV transmission was rather limited among medical personnel. Practice of UBP was also not universal as 44% preferred to rely on pre-op HIV testing of patients and knowledge of their status whilst 36% of respondents admitted reluctance to perform an invasive procedure on an HIV positive patient. Conclusion This study shows the need for the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Service and its institutions to develop and implement specific policies on the practice of UBP, training of health care providers and ensuring the consistent supply of protective materials.

Source: UG
Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antimicrobial use and resistance among healthcare seekers in two tertiary hospitals in Ghana: a quasi experimental study

Objective To evaluate knowledge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), to study how the judgement of health value (HVJ) and economic value (EVJ) affects antibiotic use, and to understand if access to information on AMR implications may influence perceived AMR mitigation strategies. Design A quasi-experimental study with interviews performed before and after an intervention where hospital staff collected data and provided one group of participants with information about the health and economic implications of antibiotic use and resistance compared with a control group not receiving the intervention. Setting Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals, Ghana. Participants Adult patients aged 18 years and older seeking outpatient care. Main outcome measures We measured three outcomes: (1) level of knowledge of the health and economic implications of AMR; (2) HVJ and EVJ behaviours influencing antibiotic use and (3) differences in perceived AMR mitigation strategy between participants exposed and not exposed to the intervention. Results Most participants had a general knowledge of the health and economic implications of antibiotic use and AMR. Nonetheless, a sizeable proportion disagreed or disagreed to some extent that AMR may lead to reduced productivity/indirect costs (71% (95% CI 66% to 76%)), increased provider costs (87% (95% CI 84% to 91%)) and costs for carers of AMR patients/societal costs (59% (95% CI 53% to 64%)). Both HVJ-driven and EVJ-driven behaviours influenced antibiotic use, but the latter was a better predictor (reliability coefficient >0.87). Compared with the unexposed group, participants exposed to the intervention were more likely to recommend restrictive access to antibiotics (p<0.01) and pay slightly more for a health treatment strategy to reduce their risk of AMR (p<0.01). Conclusion There is a knowledge gap about antibiotic use and the implications of AMR. Access to AMR information at the point of care could be a successful way to mitigate the prevalence and implications of AMR.

Source: UG
Knowledge, attitudes and practices of West Africans on genetic studies of stroke: Evidence from the SIREN Study

Background It is crucial to assess genomic literacy related to stroke among Africans in preparation for the ethical, legal and societal implications of the genetic revolution which has begun in Africa. Objective To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of West Africans about stroke genetic studies. Methods A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among stroke patients and stroke-free controls recruited across 15 sites in Ghana and Nigeria. Participants' knowledge of heritability of stroke, willingness to undergo genetic testing and perception of the potential benefits of stroke genetic research were assessed using interviewer-administered questionnaire. Descriptive, frequency distribution and multiple regression analyses were performed. Results Only 49% of 2029 stroke patients and 57% of 2603 stroke-free individuals knew that stroke was a heritable disorder. Among those who knew, 90% were willing to undergo genetic testing. Knowledge of stroke heritability was associated with having at least post-secondary education (OR 1.51, 1.25–1.81) and a family history of stroke (OR 1.20, 1.03–1.39) while Islamic religion (OR=0.82, CI: 0.72–0.94), being currently unmarried (OR = 0.81, CI: 0.70–0.92), and alcohol use (OR = 0.78, CI: 0.67–0.91) were associated with lower odds of awareness of stroke as a heritable disorder. Willingness to undergo genetic testing for stroke was associated with having a family history of stroke (OR 1.34, 1.03–1.74) but inversely associated with a medical history of high blood pressure (OR = 0.79, 0.65–0.96). Conclusion To further improve knowledge of stroke heritability and willingness to embrace genetic testing for stroke, individuals with less formal education, history of high blood pressure and no family history of stroke require targeted interventions.

Source: UG
Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding malaria prevention and control in communities in the Eastern Region, Ghana, 2020

Background In sub-Saharan Africa countries including Ghana, the malaria burden remains unacceptably high and still a serious health challenge. Evaluating a community’s level of knowledge, atti tude, and practice (KAP) regarding malaria is essential to enabling appropriate preventive and control measures. This study aimed to evaluate knowledge of malaria, attitudes toward the disease, and adoption of control and prevention practices in some communities across the Eastern Region of Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional based study was carried out in 13 communities across 8 districts from Jan uary -June, 2020. Complete data on socio-demographic characteristics and KAP were obtained from 316 randomly selected household respondents by a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Associations between KAP scores and socio-demographic profiles were tested by Chi-square and binary logistic regression. Data analysis was done with SPSS ver sion 26.0. Results Most respondents (85.4%) had good knowledge score about malaria. Preferred choice of treatment seeking place (50.6%) was the health center/clinic. All respondents indicated they would seek treatment within 24 hours. Mosquito coils were the preferred choice (58.9%) against mosquito bites. Majority of households (58.5%) had no bed nets and bed net usage was poor (10.1%). Nearly half of the respondents (49.4%) had a positive attitude toward malaria and 40.5% showed good practices. Chi-square analysis showed significant associa tions for gender and attitude scores (p = 0.033), and educational status and practice scores (p = 0.023). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that 51–60 year-olds were less likely to have good knowledge (OR = 0.20, p = 0.04) than 15–20 year-olds. Respondents with complete basic schooling were less likely to have good knowledge (OR = 0.33, p = 0.04) than those with no formal schooling. A positive attitude was less likely in men (OR = 0.61, p = 0.04). Good malaria prevention practice was lower (OR = 0.30, p = 0.01) in participants with incomplete basic school education compared to those with no formal schooling. Conclusion Overall scores for respondents’ knowledge, though good, was not reflected in attitudes and levels of practice regarding malaria control and prevention. Behavioral change communica tio

Source: UG
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to meningitis in northern Ghana

Meningitis has a significant impact in the Sahel, but the mechanisms for transmission and factors determining a person's vulnerability are not well understood. Our survey examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of people in a meningitis-endemic area in the Upper East region of northern Ghana to identify social, economic, and behavioral factors that may contribute to disease transmission and possible interventions that might improve health outcomes. Key results suggest potential interventions in response to the risk posed by migration, especially seasonal migration, a lack of knowledge about early symptoms causing delayed treatment, and a need for further education about the protective benefits of vaccination. Copyright © 2013 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Source: UG