Knowledge, Attitude and Practice toward COVID-19 among Egyptians

Wael A Bahbah,Mohammed G Haggag,Shimaa K Zewain,Safa H Alkalash,Dalia E Desouky,Zeinab A Kasemy,Enas Zahran

doi:10.2991/jegh.k.200909.001

Abstract

COVID-19 is a public Health Emergency of International Concern. The aim of this work was to assess the level of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) among Egyptians toward COVID-19. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1st to April 1st, on 3712 participants of different ages and sex. An author designed KAP questionnaire toward COVID-19 administered online and personally was delivered. Satisfactory knowledge, positive attitude and good practice were reported among 70.2%, 75.9% and 49.2% of the participants respectively. Middle-aged participants reported high knowledge and attitude levels with poor practice level (p < 0.001). Females reported high knowledge and practice levels and low attitude (p < 0.001 and p = 0.041 respectively). Despite reporting high knowledge and attitude among urban residents (p < 0.001), practice level was high among rural residents (p = 0.001). Post-graduate education reported the highest levels of KAP (p < 0.001). Rural residents, working and non-enough income participants reported lower level of practice (p < 0.001). Logistic regression was carried out. It was found that unsatisfactory knowledge was associated with low education [Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.51–2.56], and of rural residency (OR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.05–1.41). Negative attitude was associated with not working (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.61–2.35) and not enough income (OR = 1.29, 95%CI: 1.10–1.51 respectively). Poor practice is associated with young age (OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.94–2.98) and low education (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.03–1.37) and not working (OR = 4.95, 95% CI: 4.07–6.02). Satisfactory knowledge, positive attitude and poor practice were found among the participants. A good knowledge and lower practice level were found among middle-aged, working participants, and participants with insufficient income. The demographic characters associated with KAP could be the cornerstone in directing policy-makers to target the health education campaigns to the suitable target groups.

Highlights

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention officially announced a novel coronavirus as the causative pathogen of COVID-19 on 8th of January 8, 2020 [1]
The non-working participants represented the major percentage of 61.1%
About 41.1% of the participants reported that they have no enough income (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention officially announced a novel coronavirus as the causative pathogen of COVID-19 on 8th of January 8, 2020 [1]. COVID-19 epidemics started from Wuhan city last December, and on the 30th of January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 is a public Health Emergency [2]. This disease was named as COVID-19 by the WHO, and the causative virus was named as SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses [3]. Recovery in mild cases occurred after 1 week, while in severe cases, death may be the fate [10] Those who were at a higher risk for severe illness and death were patients with age >60 years and those having pre-existing diseases as hypertension, diabetes, etc., [4]

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Results

Conclusion