Integrated disease surveillance and response strategy for epidemic prone diseases at the primary health care (PHC) level in Oyo State, Nigeria: what do health care workers know and feel?

INTRODUCTION: Effective diseases surveillance remains an important operational tool in countries with recurrent epidemic prone diseases (EPDs). In Nigeria, insufficient knowledge among Health Care Workers (HCWs) on Integrated Disease Strategy and Response Strategy (IDSR) have been documented. This study assessed knowledge and attitude of HCWs towards IDSR strategy for EPDs at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level in Oyo State, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional facility based study using an interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from 531 HCWs. In addition, 7 Key Informant Interviews was conducted. Discrete data were summarized as proportions while chi-square test was used to assess association between variables. A logistic regression model was used to assess predictors of knowledge of HCWs. All statistical significance was set at 5%. RESULTS: Mean age of respondents was 42 ± 8.1 years with female preponderance (86.1%). Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) (36.9%) constituted the highest proportion of HCWs. About 70% and 90% of HCWs had good knowledge of EPDs and IDSR surveillance data flow respectively. Majority of HCWs 333(67.3%) knew how to use IDSR form 003 but less than 10% knew how to use other IDSR forms. The majority of HCWs {492(99.4%) and 345(69.7%)} agreed that reporting EPDs is necessary and IDSR tools are simple to use. Number of years post basic qualification was a predictor of HCWs' knowledge (AOR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0-2.3). CONCLUSION: This study showed poor knowledge on the use of IDSR forms although majority of HCWs had good knowledge and positive attitude towards IDSR strategy for EPDs. Thus, regular evaluation of health workers' knowledge and attitude towards IDSR strategy as a performance function of the surveillance system is recommended.