Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0887 ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Assessment of clinician’s knowledge and attitude toward health extension program in Ethiopia: An exploratory factor analysis Merhawi Gebremedhin Tekle 1 *, Esie Gebrewahd Gebre 2 , Girmay Medhin 3,4 , Alula M. Teklu 4 , Daniel Tadesse 4 , Genet Gebrehiwot 5 , Sentayehu Tsegaye 6 , Eskinder Wolka 7 , Gebrehiwot Gebretsadik 8 , Ciara DeGraf 9 , and Mihajlo Jakovljevic 10,11,12 1 School of Public Health, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia 2 School of Geography and Environmental Studies, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia 3 Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 4 MERQ Consultancy PLC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 5 Department of Gender and Development Studies, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia 6 Federal Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 7 International Institute for Primary Health Care-Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 8 Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences and Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Aksum University, Axum, Ethiopia 9 Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Colgate University, New York, United States 10 Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg, Russia 11 Institute of Comparative Economic Studies, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan 12 Department of Global Health Economics and Policy, University of Kragujevac, Serbia Abstract Health extension workers (HEWs) are the primary implementers of the health extension program (HEP) – a government-led community-based health-care program, but clinicians are anticipated to play a critical part in providing extensive support, thus, this study aimed to assess clinicians’ knowledge and perceptions of HEP, a cross-sectional study was conducted with 1239 clinicians. A set of 54-item questions was created based on HEP guidelines and relevant literature. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identifed latent variables with Eigenvalues matrix >1. Cluster variables were derived through orthogonal varimax factor rotation, and internal reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefcient. A composite score was generated for each constructed factor, and the associations between variables were determined using a one-way analysis of variance. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to eliminate confounders, with statistical signifcance set at P < 0.05. EFA provides three factors explaining 91% of the total variance and labeled as “clinician-perceived attitude towards the skill of HEWs” (F1), “clinician knowledge on HEP activities” (F2), and “clinician-perceived attitude towards the impact of HEP” (F3). Internal reliability for the 54 items was 0.96, and it was 0.93, 0.90, and 0.89 for F1, F2, and F3, respectively. 75.5% and 76.2% of clinicians had favorable attitudes toward F1 and F3, respectively, and 70.2% had good knowledge of F2. F1 was positively correlated with participation in HEP review meetings, home visits, HEP outreach, and willingness to work in HEP but negatively correlated with degree holders. F2 was *Corresponding author: Merhawi Gebremedhin (meriget12@gmail.com) Citation: Tekle, M.G., Gebre, E.G., Medhin, G., Teklu, A.M., Tadesse, D, Gebrehiwot, G., et al. (2023). Assessment of clinician’s knowledge and attitude toward health extension program in Ethiopia: An exploratory factor analysis. Global Health Econ Sustain, 1(1): 0887. https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0887 Received: May 1, 2023 Accepted: July 10, 2023 Published Online: July 25, 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Publisher’s Note: AccScience Publishing remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional afliations. Global Health Econ Sustain