Healthcare professionals' perceived stigmatization about direct care of COVID-19 Patients: development and validation of the discrimination about COVID-19 (DisCOV-19) instrument

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health concern worldwide. Healthcare professionals are among the most vulnerable groups in the fight against COVID-19 because they are directly involved in the care of at-risk persons and patients with Covid-19. This study aimed to measure the level to which healthcare workers feel that they can be discriminated due to their involvement in the direct care of COVID-19 patients. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among healthcare professionals in Nigeria. A nineteen-item discrimination against COVID-19 (DisCOV-19) questionnaire was developed and validated for the study. Descriptive statistics and One-Way Analysis of Variance were used for data analysis.