Stigma and discrimination tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors: Evidence from a nationwide population-based survey in Ghana.

Autor: Osei E; Department of Population and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.; Department of Public Health, Yonsei University of Graduate School, Seoul, Republic of Korea., Amu H; Department of Population and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana., Appiah PK; Department of Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.; Department of Medical Law and Bioethics, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea., Amponsah SB; Department of Health Research and Development, Regional Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Eastern Region, Koforidua, Ghana., Danso E; Department of Community Health, College of Health, Yamfo, Bono East Region, Sunyani, Ghana., Oppong S; Municipal Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Bono Region, Sunyani, Ghana., Lotse CW; Department of Nursing, School of Nurses and Midwifery, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana., Owusu BE; Department of Mathematics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana., Agongo SA; Department of Community Health, College of Health, Yamfo, Bono East Region, Sunyani, Ghana., Yakubu E; Department of Community Health, College of Health, Yamfo, Bono East Region, Sunyani, Ghana., Kye-Duodu G; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PLOS global public health [PLOS Glob Public Health] 2022 Jun 22; Vol. 2 (6), pp. e0000307. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jun 22 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000307
Abstrakt: Historically, infectious diseases have generated fears among populations. Unhealthy handling of these fears result in the stigma and discrimination of infected patients. Globally, measures taken so far by governments to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, although helpful, have created fears in people. Consequently, there are reported Ghanaian media cases of stigmatisation against persons who were infected and recovered from COVID-19. However, these reports remain unsubstantiated. This study, therefore, sought to examine stigma and discriminatory tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors among the adult population in Ghana. This was a population-based cross-sectional study among 3,259 adults. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to recruit study participants. Descriptive and inferential statistics comprising frequency, percentage, chi-square, and multivariable logistic regression were employed in analysing the data. Knowledge on COVID-19 was poor among 33.6% of the participants. Forty-three per cent had a good attitude towards COVID-19. Nearly half (45.9%) exhibited stigma and discriminatory tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors. Participants who had poor COVID-19 related knowledge (aOR = 1.91, 95%CI = 1.59-2.29, p<0.001) and poor attitude towards COVID-19 (aOR = 5.83, 95% CI = 4.85-6.98, p<0.001) were more likely to exhibit stigma and discriminatory tendencies towards COVID-19 survivors. Our study found relatively high proportions of poor knowledge and negative attitudes towards COVID-19. Stigma and discriminatory tendencies were consequently high. Our findings call for increased public education on COVID-19 by the Ghana Health Service and the Information Services Department, to increase the level of knowledge on the pandemic while reducing stigma and discrimination associated with it.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests
(Copyright: © 2022 Osei et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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