COVID-19 Outbreak Management in Afghanistan: A Cross-Sectional Study of Community Awareness and Perception

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of corona virus diseases (COVID-19) has rabidly spread all over the world. Community responses are important for outbreak management during the early phase when preventive interventions are the major options. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate perceived susceptibility and severity and behavioral responses at the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic in Afghanistan population. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was performed after confirmed COVID-19 in Afghanistan. The population of the study was 500 residents of the in provinces of Afghanistan that were randomly surveyed. The research tool was demographic and perceived threat questionnaire. The data analyzed using the SPSS statistical version (V.20). Findings: The means of age participants was 26.44± 7.64. Many respondents reported their health status were very good or good (95.6 %; 430/450). About 12.4 (n- 56) participants had respiratory symptoms in the past 14 days and 16.2 % had a history of travelled outside their city where they live. The means of perceived susceptibility and Perceived severity was 4.09±2.21 and 11.02±1.82 respectively. Interpretation: Perceived susceptibility the research community was very low and perceived severity toward COVID-19 in the community of Afghanistan Provinces was very high. Most participants are alert to disease progression. It seems that psychological and behavioral outcomes to COVID-19 had been considered during the phase of the outbreak. This study suggested timely behavioral assessment of the community is beneficial and effective to inform the next intervention, and risk communication strategies in at epidemic disease. Funding Statement: No funding. Declaration of Interests: All authors stated that there is no conflict of interest for this manuscript. Ethics Approval Statement: This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Afghanistan National Charity Organization for Special Diseases (ANCOSD) (ID: AF. ANCOSD. HREC. 016, 25/04/2020).