Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) among Pakistani residents during the vigorous upsurge phase of the outbreak.

Abstract

Background: To prevent the rapid rise of COVID-19, people’s adherence to control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. In this study, we investigated Pakistani residents' KAP towards COVID-19 during the peak spread of this disease.

Methodology: cross-sectional survey designed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices during the COVID-19 epidemic using an online questionnaire. The knowledge section of the questionnaire had eight questions (K1-K8) regarding clinical presentations, transmission routes, prevention, and control of COVID-19. Attitudes towards COVID-19 were estimated by four questions (A1-A4) mainly focused on the agreement on the successful control of COVID-19. For practices (P1-P6), six questions were asked related to washing hands, covering the mouth, and social distancing practices.

Results: A total of 139 completed forms were included in the analysis, of which 98 (70.5%) were females and 41(29.5%) were males. Results of multiple binary logistic regression analysis on factors significantly associated with attitude towards COVID-19, successful control of COVID-19 in Pakistan by gender OR (95% CI), 1.95(1.58, 0.80). As these findings were recruited from a small number of participants, they cannot be generalized to the entire population.

Conclusion: The findings of our study suggest that the unequal distribution of knowledge may impede certain people from adopting healthy practices.