COVID-19 knowledge and perceptions among health information management professionals in Nigeria: implications for health data management

Abstract

Background/Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a public health emergency of international concern has given rise to the generation of huge health data directly from the source of crisis and it has exposed health care systems to the reality and necessity of digital health. This study attempted to understand the perceptions of health information management (HIM) professionals and the attendant implications for managing health data amid the pandemic. Methods/Design: A cross-sectional survey using stratified sampling to recruit 123 HIM professionals from three Nigerian public tertiary hospitals, which include Federal Medical Centre, Bida, University College Hospital, Ibadan and Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti. The study used a 27-item questionnaire that elicits data on participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and perceptions on COVID-19 infection and related healthcare data management. SPSS was used to analyze the data with specifics in descriptive and Chi square test Results: More than half (66, 57.4%) of participants were between ages 30 and 50 years and 84 (73%) of them were holders of diploma certificates. Social media was the major (43, 37.4%) source of information about COVID-19, 79 (68.7%) participants believed COVID-19 can be contacted through handling of patients’ folders and participants’ workplace was statistically significant (p-value 0.024) with their opinion. The majority (70, 60.9%) had attended at least a training program on safe use of PPE and would always cover their mouth when coughing or sneezing. More than half (63, 4.8%) were not so confident to attend to patients at the heat of the pandemic and this apprehension was high (66, 57.4%) during patient documentation. Post COVID-19, not many (45, 39.1%) would be able to adjust in their dispositions and an overwhelming majority (90, 78.3%) admitted that the pandemic would affect their HIM practice going forward. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a new order of generating and managing health data and a lot more is required of HIM professionals to really make health data work for care quality improvement in Nigeria.