Knowledge and perceptions on COVID-19 among Senior High School students in Ghana: a cross-sectional study

  1. Isaac Bador Kamal Lettor
  2. Paschal Awingura Apanga
  3. Maxwell Tii Kumbeni
  4. Ramatu Akunvane
  5. Robert Akparibo

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Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with high morbidity and mortality. In Ghana, policy interventions have been implemented by the Government to combat the pandemic. However, the knowledge and perceptions of Senior High School students are not investigated on the COVID-19 symptoms, transmission and the government policy measures.

Objectives

The present study surveyed senior high school students to assess their knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 and the government policy measures to address the outbreak.

Methods

The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design to assess the knowledge and perceptions of senior high school students on the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures put in place to address it. 624 senior high school students aged 18 years old and above were surveyed. Descriptive analysis was performed to assess knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 symptoms, mode of transmissions and prevention.

Findings

Most students were knowledgeable about COVID-19 symptoms, transmission and preventive measures. Majority of the students obtained information about COVID-19 from television, radio, social media, and from family and friends. Overall, the students also demonstrated a positive perception towards COVID-19 mode of transmission and preventive measures.

Conclusions

Overall, senior high school students in the Bawku Municipality in Ghana demonstrated an appreciable level of knowledge and positive perception of COVID-19. Students cited television, radio, peer education and social media as their information sources for COVID-19. These media outlets should be prioritized in disseminating COVID 19 information to the public, especially students.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.18.20234088: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Christian Health Association (CHAG) Institutional Review Board.
    RandomizationTo ensure the validity, clarity and relevance of the questionnaire, our survey instrument was pretested among 35 randomly selected students.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Data analysis: Data analysis was conducted using SAS version 9.3 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
    SAS Institute
    suggested: (Statistical Analysis System, RRID:SCR_008567)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Our study had a number of limitations. There is a likelihood of recall bias as the responses provided by the students were self-reported. Further we want to caution readers for any attempt to generalize the findings of the study to the general senior high schools’ students’ population in the country as our sample is not representative of the entire country. Despite these limitations, the finding provides useful information about students’ knowledge and perceptions about COVID-19 and could be useful to local authorities, particularly the study setting to make decisions to stop the spread of the disease among students when schools are finally reopened.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.11.18.20234088v1 on medRxiv