Knowledge towards the Health Impacts of Climate Change and its Associated Factors among Community of Amhara Sayint District, Northeastern Ethiopia, 2022

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Introduction: Climate change is mainly caused by the release of anthropogenic greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. It is the cause for 10% of global death. About 3 billion people globally and tens of million people in Ethiopia are vulnerable to its health impacts. Investigation of public knowledge towards its health impacts, attributed by different factors, is fundamental for preventive actions. Although relevant national and international studies are on the verge of growing, focus is given for the agricultural perspective; accordingly, farmers are the focus of those studies. However, the community’s knowledge towards impacts of climate change from a public health perspective is largely ignored. This study takes this gap into account and aims to assess knowledge towards health impacts of climate change among the community of Amhara Sayint district, Northeastern Ethiopia. The findings will serve as tools for taking comprehensive preventive actions. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 20 to September 5, 2022. Data was collected from 605 randomly selected households. A pilot-tested and content-validated questionnaire was used to collect the data through face to face interview using an online kobocollect.The data was then exported to STATA for management and analysis. Proportional odds model was fitted with 95% confidence level to identify factors associated with the knowledge of the community. Results From the total respondents, 3.47% (95% CI: 2.1, 5.3) and 42.98% (95% CI: 38.9, 47) had inadequate and medium level of knowledge towards the health impacts of climate change, respectively. Gender (female) (AOR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.053, 2.127), wealth status (poorest) (AOR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.01, 3.831), educational status (unable to read and write) (AOR = 4.13, 95%CI: 1.25, 13.68) and participation in environmental protection activities (not) (AOR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.17–2.71) significantly associated with inadequate and medium level of knowledge. Conclusions Though the majority of Amhara Sayint residents had adequate knowledge about the health impacts of climate change, a significant proportion of the residents had inadequate knowledge. Therefore, priority shall better be given for strengthening educational and active engagement of the community in environmental protection activities to further enhance public knowledge.