Abstract
Background: People's adherence to control measures is imperative in the fight against COVID-19. The present study was done to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among residents of Jharkhand and to assist the government in deciding further course of action during the COVID-19 outbreak.
 Methods: This study was an online cross-sectional survey. The link to the questionnaire was displayed on the official website of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, National Health Mission, Jharkhand, official website of all districts under Jharkhand state administration, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme and Information & Public Relations department. Participation of residents in the survey was extensively propagated using mass media mainly local television networks, radio channels and newspapers.
 Results: A total of 4683 responses were received from all districts of Jharkhand. The majority of the participants were young adults (47.5%) and the number of male participants was more than the females (81.4%). The mean correct knowledge score for participants of this study was 10.73+2.2 (maximum attainable score was 14) while the mean practice score for the participants was 4.5+0.69 (maximum attainable score was 5). The knowledge score of the participants was significantly associated with their age, education status and economic class (p<0.0001). The participants largely held an optimistic attitude and healthy practices towards COVID-19. Conclusion: Participants had a positive attitude but were also logically worried and uncertain about the near future. Adequate knowledge of participants was visible in their practices. There was however a gap across age groups, gender, literacy and income levels which should be addressed in future campaigns.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID19”) has grown into pandemic proportions making it one of the most serious infectious diseases affecting mankind [1]
Since data on COVID-19 is scant, we considered the questionnaires developed for the MERS and H1N1 [20,21].To generate a comprehensive set of items relevant to the Indian scenario we used information available on the MyGov #IndiaFightsCorona COVID-19 dashboard of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India [6]
The questionnaire consisted of four sections; 1st section included questions on the demographic profile of the candidate in both closed and open-ended format. 2nd section consists of fourteen closed-ended questions to assess participants' knowledge under three domains; clinical aspects (4 questions), spread (4 questions) and prevention & control of COVID-19 (6 questions). 3rd section includes a set of five closed-ended questions to assess participants' attitudes towards COVID-19. 4th section included a set of 5 closed-ended and 1 open-ended questions to assess participants' practices towards COVID-19
Summary
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID19”) has grown into pandemic proportions making it one of the most serious infectious diseases affecting mankind [1]. In India, the COVID-19 has spread to all the 36 states and Union territories with 463,435 deaths reported so far [6,7]. Jharkhand, ("The land of the forest") is a state in eastern India having 5 administrative divisions and 24 districts [8]. The present study was done to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among residents of Jharkhand and to assist the government in deciding further course of action during the COVID-19 outbreak. The link to the questionnaire was displayed on the official website of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, National Health Mission, Jharkhand, official website of all districts under Jharkhand state administration, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme and Information & Public Relations department. The participants largely held an optimistic attitude and healthy practices towards COVID-19. There was a gap across age groups, gender, literacy and income levels which should be addressed in future campaigns
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