Behavioural Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic among Nigerians: A Nationwide Survey

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 being a new disease has been fraught with poor public social responses. This survey described the behavioural responses to  COVID-19 from individuals in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society like Nigeria.

Methods: The study used a web-based descriptive cross-sectional design to recruit Nigerian adults, 18 years and above from all the geopolitical  zones in the country, by snowball sampling technique. A 6-page Google form survey tool was used to administer the questionnaire via emails,  WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics with percentage frequency distribution.

Results: A total of 1841 respondents (45.8% females) were finally analyzed. The age range was 18-84years with mean of 31±11years. Overall, 1079  (58.6%) expressed at least one element of fear of disclosing their COVID-19 status. There were 1047 (56.7%) respondents who expressed worry  about being discriminated against if they get COVD-19 and 1087 (59.1%) agreed that family members of COVID-19 patients may be rejected by the  community. Majority 1749 (95%) stated willingness to present to the healthcare facility, though 932 (50.6%) stated they will not be attended to if  suspected to have COVID-19. Of the respondents, 794 (43.1%) indicated that COVID-19 was caused by the Chinese and 1202 (65.3%) indicated that  healthcare workers should be kept in a hotel separate from the rest of the community. Majority 1679 (91.2%) however, disagreed that COVID- 19 was  a death sentence.

Conclusion: The study revealed that there were elements of fear of disclosure, with discrimination and stigmatization being the major causes of  concern.