Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards Covid-19 among people living with HIV/AIDS in Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract

As with other countries globally, Rwanda has faced a recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) against a backdrop of an HIV epidemic. At present, there is no successful cure or vaccine for both COVID-19 and HIV. People with underlying conditions, including HIV, are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 manifestations. This underscores the need to enhance the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of people living with HIV (PLWH) to protect this population against COVID-19. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from August 31 to September 18, 2020 among 376 participants who were selected by a simple random sampling technique. A pretested and structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Quality scores were calculated as a measure of the participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) levels. The student t-test was used to compare continuous variables between low (<65%) and high (≥65%) KAP scores.