Information Seeking on Covid-19 Pandemic: Care Providers' Experience at the University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest of Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: During the pandemic, information is inevitable and important, and having knowledge on pertinent information is very crucial for health-care professionals in order to deliver sustainable and quality health services to their clients, and to combat the virus. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the health-care providers' information seeking behavior on COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study had conducted among 291 respondents. The participant’s characteristics were presented using frequency and percentage. The association between the independent and dependent variables was explained using chi-squared test. RESULTS: Out of the 291 respondents, 207 (71.1%) of them had sought information on COVID-19 pandemic. The association between the gender and educational status with the outcome variable was found insignificant. Age (χ(2)=10.6, P=0.011), respondent’s working unit (χ(2)=33.7, P<0.001), profession (χ(2)=12.7, P=0.013), taking computer training (χ(2)=17.44, P=0.000), computer access at work place (χ(2)=7.28, P=0.007), internet access at work place (χ(2)=22.2, P<0.001), and frequency of internet use (χ(2)=17.63, P<0.001) were found significant with COVID-19 information seeking. CONCLUSION: Information seeking behavior was positively associated with computer access, computer training, internet access and frequency of use. Therefore, comprehensive package is required to build the capacity of care providers on computer-related skills. Besides, institutions need to have internet and computer access.