Factors determining preventive practices of the healthcare workers regarding COVID‐19 in Bangladesh

Purpose Identifying the factors influencing the preventive practices of the healthcare workers (HCWs) is crucial during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) because the HCWs are exposed to unparalleled levels of risks. Such concern is starting to be explored worldwide although there is only a single study available in Bangladesh with a limited scope of explorations of the domain. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors determining better preventive practices of HCWs toward COVID‐19. Materials and methods A cross‐sectional one‐to‐one survey was carried out using a validated questionnaire from December 15, 2020 to March 15, 2021 among a sample of 640 HCWs from Khulna, a southwestern division of Bangladesh, consisting of ten districts. The measures included socio‐demographics, knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices related information. A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors determining preventive practices of HCWs toward COVID‐19. Results More than half of the respondents (62%) were following better preventive practices. Besides, around 70% of them had better knowledge and attitudes toward the disease. Regression analysis showed a number of major determining factors of the HCWs' better preventive practices including being a nurse or other professionals (ie, radiologists and pathologists), being graduates, working in coronavirus isolation units, managing COVID‐19 patients, having previous training, and having better attitudes toward COVID‐19. Conclusion The findings confirmed that the HCWs were generally practicing preventive manners although these trends followed were not at the standard level. So, providing guidance and information from authentic sources and organizing proper training could possibly enhance the preventive behavior in managing COVID‐19 patients.