Opinion and uptake of chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 during the mandatory lockdown in the sub-Saharan African region

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Opinion and uptake of chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 during the mandatory lockdown in the sub-Saharan African region
 
Creator Osuagwu, Uchechukwu L. Nwaeze, Obinna Ovenseri-Ogbomo, Godwin Oloruntoba, Richard Ekpenyong, Bernadine Mashige, Khathutshelo P. Timothy, Chikasirimobi Ishaya, Tanko Langsi, Raymond Charwe, Deborah Kwasi Abu, Emmanuel Chundung, Miner A. Agho, Kingsley E.
 
Subject Primary Care; Primary Health Care; Education coronavirus; sub-Saharan Africa; chloroquine hydrochloride; Africa; poisoning
Description Background: As the search for effective treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection continues, the public opinion around the potential use of chloroquine (CQ) in treating COVID-19 remains mixed.Aim: To examine opinion and uptake of CQ for treating COVID-19 in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) region.Setting: This study was conducted through an online survey software titled SurveyMonkey.Methods: Anonymous online survey of 1829 SSA countries was conducted during the lockdown period using Facebook, WhatsApp and authors’ networks. Opinion and uptake of CQ for COVID-19 treatment were assessed using multivariate analyses.Results: About 14% of respondents believed that CQ could treat COVID-19 and of which, 3.2% took CQ for COVID-19 treatment. Multivariate analyses revealed that respondents from Central (adjusted odds ratios [aOR]: 2.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43, 4.43) and West Africa (aOR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.15, 2.88) had higher odds of believing that CQ could treat COVID-19. Respondents from East Africa reported higher odds for uptake of CQ for COVID-19 than Central, Western and Southern Africans. Knowledge of the disease and compliance with the public health advice were associated with both belief and uptake of CQ for COVID-19 treatment.Conclusion: Central and West African respondents were more likely to believe in CQ as a treatment for COVID-19 whilst the uptake of the medication during the pandemic was higher amongst East Africans. Future intervention discouraging the unsupervised use of CQ should target respondents from Central, West and East African regions.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2021-06-15
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Survey
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.2795
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 13, No 1 (2021); 8 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
Relation
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https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2795/4703 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2795/4704 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2795/4705 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2795/4706
 
Coverage Africa — Age; Gender; Health care workers
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Uchechukwu L. Osuagwu, Obinna Nwaeze, Godwin Ovenseri-Ogbomo, Richard Oloruntoba, Bernadine Ekpenyong, Khathutshelo P. Mashige, Chikasirimobi Timothy, Tanko Ishaya, Raymond Langsi, Deborah Charwe, Emmanuel Kwasi Abu, Miner A. Chundung, Kingsley E. Agho https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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