Abstract
Objectives In Bangladesh, remarkable measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. Adherence to control measures in general populations significantly influences on their perception, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. This study aimed to investigate KAP towards COVID-19 immediately after the locked down and during the rapid rise period of the outbreak.
Study design Cross-sectional study.
Methods This online-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 29 to April 19, 2020, involving 2017 Bangladeshi residents aged (12–64) years. The sample was successfully recruited via the social media. After consenting, participants completed an online survey assessing socio-demographic variables, perception, and KAP towards COVD-19.
Results Of the 2017 survey participants, 59.8% and 40.2% were male and female, respectively. A majority of the participants were students (71.2%), aged 21-30 years (57.9%), having a bachelor’s degree (61.0%), having family income >30000 in BDT (50.0%), and living urban area (69.8). The findings revealed that 48.3% of participants had more accurate knowledge, 62.3% had more positive attitudes, and 55.1% had more frequent practices for COVID-19 prevention. Majority (96.7%) of the participants agreed ‘COVID-19 is a dangerous disease’ and almost all (98.7%) of the participants wore a face mask in the crowded place, (98.8%) agreed to report a suspected case to health authorities, and (93.8%) good practicing of washing hands with soap and water. In multiple logistic regression analyses, the COVID-19 more accurate knowledge was associated with age, and residence. Whereas, the results reported that sociodemographic factors such as being older, having higher education, being unemployment, having a joint family, having monthly family income >30,000 BDT, and having more frequent prevention practices were the more positive attitudes’ factors; and the more frequent prevention practices factors were associated to being female, being older, having higher education, having monthly family income more than 30,000 BDT, urban area and having more positive attitudes.
Conclusion To improve the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of general populations are crucial during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, an effective health education program must be initiated.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
The authors declare that they have not received any direct or indirect funding from any organization.
Author Declarations
All relevant ethical guidelines have been followed; any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained and details of the IRB/oversight body are included in the manuscript.
Yes
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Footnotes
m.zannatul.ferdous{at}juniv.edu, saiful{at}phiju.edu.bd, sikder{at}juniv.edu, drmosaddek1968{at}gmail.com, jzegarrav{at}unsa.edu.pe
Data Availability
All data were included in the manuscript.
https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/s9wgjh7t7f/draft?a=a3c2342c-1eba-45dc-8335-9756f9e14ff4