Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward Zika virus among staff of comprehensive health services centers affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2020

AbstractAimAssessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of healthcare providers regarding Zika virus, provides information on their ability to prevent its transmission, and emphasizes the necessity of implementing educational programs if their knowledge, attitude, and practice are low. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the staff of comprehensive health services centers affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences regarding Zika Virus.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted on 354 staffs of comprehensive health service centers. The researcher‐made questionnaire consisted of two sections. The first section of the questionnaire was about demographic and professional characteristics of the participants and the second section was assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding Zika virus. Data analysis was performed by SPSS 16 software using descriptive and analytical statistics.ResultsIn this study, 70.9% of the participants had poor knowledge, 24.1% had moderate knowledge, and only 5% had good knowledge about Zika virus. Regarding attitude, 10.6% of the participants had negative attitude, 45.9% had neutral attitude, and 43.5% had positive attitude toward Zika virus. Moreover, 40.6% of the participants had poor practice, 24.7% had moderate practice, and 34.7% had good practice in Zika virus.ConclusionThe knowledge level in participants about Zika virus was unacceptable and their attitude and practice level was relatively acceptable. Therefore, it is necessary to design and implement educational interventions aimed at promoting knowledge, attitude, and practice of the staff of comprehensive health services centers regarding Zika Virus.