Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) Towards COVID-19 and Importance of Hand Hygiene: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has accursed the world since December 2019 when it was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China. As it quickly spread to almost all the corners of the world, WHO later declared it as a global pandemic. Effective non-pharmaceutical measures to control it depend upon the knowledge and practice of basic principles of hygiene and the use of facemasks. Hence educating the public about it has an immense role in controlling this contagious disease.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Chittagong from June 2020 to December 2020 with a study population of 1489 participants. Adults with a good physical and mental condition and those who agreed to participate were included while unwilling and sick people were excluded from the study.
RESULTS: Out of 1489 participants, the mean age was 28.81±8.64 years with a range from 12 to 70 years. More than half (51%) of the participants were females and about 773(51.9%) participants completed above X education level. Knowledge about the disease, its causative agent, main symptoms, ultimate fate, and its mode of transmission was considerably high. The majority of the participants were accustomed to preventive measures such as social distancing, isolation of the patients, home quarantine, and avoidance of large gatherings. Knowledge directly affected both attitudes and practices as the survey revealed that the majority (91-89%) of the participants achieved a good knowledge-attitude score and 83.75% achieved a good knowledge-practice score. Overall achieved knowledge score regarding the importance of hand hygiene translated on attitude and practices.
CONCLUSION: Our findings insinuated that the Bangladeshi population substantiated a decent knowledge about COVID-19 and knowledge about hand hygiene was above par and that too translated on attitude and practices. Hence widespread targeted health education program that incorporates considerations of KAP modifying factors is further needed to prevent subsequent waves of the infection.
Downloads
References
REFERENCES:
Wu F, Zhao S, Yu B, Chen Y-M, Wang W, Song Z-G, et al. A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China. Nature. (2020) 579:265–9. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2008-3
Zhou P, Yang X-L, Wang X-G, Hu B, Zhang L, Zhang W, et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. (2020) 579:270–3. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7
Riou J, Althaus CL. Pattern of early human-to-human transmission of Wuhan 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), December 2019 to January 2020. Eurosurveillance. (2020) 25:2000058. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.4.2000058
Chan JF-W, Yuan S, Kok K-H, To KK-W, Chu H, Yang J, et al. A familial cluster of pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus indicating person-to-person transmission: a study of a family cluster. Lancet. (2020) 395:514–23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30154-9
Al-Hanawi MK, Angawi K, Alshareef N, Qattan AMN, et al. (2020) Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Toward COVID-19 Among the Public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study. Front. Public Health 8:217. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00217
WHO: Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Geneva, Switzerland, 30 January 2020. 2005. In.; 2020.
Tang D, Tou J, Wang J, Chen Q, Wang W, Huang J, et al. Prevention and control strategies for emergency, limited-term, and elective operations in pediatric surgery during the epidemic period of COVID-19. World J Pediatr Surg. (2020) 3:e000122. doi: 10.1136/wjps-2020-000122
WHO. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Health Emergency Dashboard 15 May 2021.
Institute of Epidemiology DCaRI. Covid-19 Status Bangladesh. 2020. https://www.iedcr.gov.bd/. Accessed 2 May 2020.
Lee M, Kang BA and You M. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in South Korea. BMC Public Health (2021) 21:295. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10285-y
Ajilore K, Atakiti I, Onyenankeya K. College students’ knowledge, attitudes and adherence to public service announcements on Ebola in Nigeria: Suggestions for improving future Ebola prevention education programmes. Health Education Journal. 2017; 76(6):648-60. Epub 2017/10/01.
Tachfouti N, Slama K, Berraho M, Nejjari C. The impact of knowledge and attitudes on adherence to tuberculosis treatment: a case-control study in a Moroccan region. The Pan African medical journal. 2012; 12:52. Epub 2012/09/01.
Bell DM. Public health interventions and SARS spread, 2003. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2004; 10(11):1900-6. Epub 2004/11/20.
Lee M, You M. Psychological and behavioral responses in South Korea during the early stages of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(9):2977.
Anderson RM, Heesterbeek H, Klinkenberg D, Hollingsworth TD. How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? Lancet. 2020; 395(10228):931–4.
Ferguson N, Laydon D, Nedjati Gilani G, et al Report 9: impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand; 2020.
Papagiannis D, Malli F, Raptis DG, et al. Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) of health care professionals in Greece before the outbreak period. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(14):4925.
Afzal MS, Khan A, Qureshi UUR, et al. Community-based assessment of knowledge, attitude, practices and risk factors regarding COVID-19 among Pakistanis residents during a recent outbreak: a cross-sectional survey. J Community Health. 2020:1–11.
Alrubaiee GG, Al-Qalah TAH, Al-Aawar MSA. Knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and preventive behaviours towards COVID-19 among health care providers in Yemen: an online cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20(1):1541.
Tamang N, Rai P, Dhungana S, et al. COVID-19: a National Survey on perceived level of knowledge, attitude and practice among frontline healthcare Workers in Nepal. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20(1):1905.
Rahman SMM, Akter A, Mostari KF, Ferdousi S, Ummon IJ, Naafi SM, Rahman MM. Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards prevention of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among Bangladeshi population. Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2020; 46: 73-82
Karim A, Akter M, Mazid AHMT, Pulock OS, Aziz TT, Hayee S et al. Knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Population-level estimation and a comparison of data obtained by phone and online survey methods.2020 doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.26.20104497.
Kakemam E, Ghoddoosi-Nejad D, Chegini Z, Momeni K, Salehiniya H, et al. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey. Frontiers in Public Health. 2020;8.
Rahman MM, Khan SJ, Sakib MS, Halim MA, Rahman F, Rahman MM, et al. COVID-19 responses among general people of Bangladesh: Status and individual view toward COVID-19 during lockdown period. Cogent Psychology. 2021 Jan 1;8(1):1860186.
Ferdous M.Z, Islam M.S, Sikder M.T, Mosaddek ASM., Zegarra-Valdivia JA, Gozal D (2020) Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh: An online based cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0239254. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0239254
Al-Hanawi MK, Angawi K, Alshareef N, Qattan AMN, Helmy HZ, et al. (2020) Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Toward COVID-19 Among the Public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study. Front. Public Health 8:217. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00217
Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, Li Y. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. International journal of biological sciences. 2020;16(10):1745.
Alzoubi H, Alnawaiseh N, Al-Mnayyis A, Abu- Lubad M, Aqe A, Hani Al-Shagahin H. COVID-19- knowledge, attitude and practice among Medical and Non-Medical University students in Jordan. J Pure Appl. Microbiol. 2020;14, 17-24.
Erfani A, Shahriarirad R, Ranjbar K, Mirahmadizadeh A & Moghadami M. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice toward the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Population-Based Survey in Iran. [Preprint]. Bull World Health Organ. E-pub: 30 March 2020. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.20.256651.
Altaher AM, Elottol AE, Jebril MA, Aliwaini SH. Assessment of awareness and hygiene practices regarding COVID-19 among adults in Gaza, Palestine. New Microbes and New Infections. 2021 May 1;41:100876.
Li H, S.M. Liu, X.H. Yu, S.L. Tang, C.K. Tang Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): current status and future perspectives. Int J Antimicrob Agents (2020), 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105951
