Abstract

Background: Saudi Arabia (KSA) showed a higher number of Middle East respiratory syndrome—coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Satisfactory knowledge, positive attitude, and healthful practice of health-care workers (HCWs) regarding MERS-CoV are a cornerstone in prevention of virus spread and disease outbreak.

Objective: To assess and improve knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of HCWs toward MERS-CoV.

Materials and Methods: An interventional prospective study was conducted during the year 2015 on a randomly selected 398 HCWs in primary health-care centers of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, KSA. The participants were invited after their consent to fill a predesigned closed-ended Arabic-based questionnaire before and 3 months after exposure to a structured health education program.

Result: The level of satisfactory knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice of studied HCWs significantly improved after exposure to the program, as it increased from 43.3%, 45%, and 57.4% before intervention to 67.9%, 63.8%, and 64.8% after intervention, respectively (P < 0.001). Older age, previous training, and experience were positively correlated with higher scores of knowledge.

Conclusion: The study reflected the importance of health education as a cornerstone element in improving KAP toward MERS-CoV infection in preventing the virus spread and disease outbreak.

Key words: MERS-CoV, prevalence, outbreak, knowledge, attitude and practice, health-care workers