Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey
Background: Emerged in December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the largest pandemics ever. During the early phase, little was known about public knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) relating to coronavirus disease. This study was designed to determine KAP of Iranians toward...
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doaj-da54e2e3ec5a42bcae9aac33048c760e2020-12-10T04:40:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652020-12-01810.3389/fpubh.2020.585302585302Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online SurveyEdris Kakemam0Djavad Ghoddoosi-Nejad1Zahra Chegini2Khalil Momeni3Hamid Salehiniya4Soheil Hassanipour5Hosein Ameri6Morteza Arab-Zozani7Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Public Health, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, IranSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, IranDepartment of Public Health, School of Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, IranDepartment of Public Health, School of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, IranGastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, IranHealth Policy and Management Research Center, Department of Health Services Management, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, IranSocial Determinants of Health Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, IranBackground: Emerged in December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the largest pandemics ever. During the early phase, little was known about public knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) relating to coronavirus disease. This study was designed to determine KAP of Iranians toward COVID-19.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out in Iran from February 25 to April 25 using a self-administered questionnaire on 1,480 people. COVID-19-related KAP questions were adapted from other internationally validated questionnaires specific for infectious diseases.Results: All participants were aware of COVID-19. When asked unprompted, 80% of respondents could correctly cite fever, difficulty in breathing, and cough as signs/symptoms of COVID-19. Most of our sample population knew that staying at home and isolated (95.3%) as well as constant handwashing and using disinfectants (92.5%) could prevent COVID-19. However, there were also widespread misconceptions such as the belief that COVID-19 can be transmitted by wild animals (58%) and by air (48.3%). Unprompted, self-reported actions taken to avoid COVID-19 infection included handwashing with soap and water (95.4%), avoiding crowded places (93%), cleansing hands with other disinfectants (80.), and covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing (76.1%). The Internet and social media (94.5%) were the main coronavirus information sources. However, the most trusted information sources on coronavirus were health and medical professionals (79.3%). The majority of participants (77.0%) wanted more information about coronavirus to be available.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that people's knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 at the time of its outbreak was at a high level.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.585302/fullknowledgeattitudespracticesCOVID-19online surveyIran |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Edris Kakemam Djavad Ghoddoosi-Nejad Zahra Chegini Khalil Momeni Hamid Salehiniya Soheil Hassanipour Hosein Ameri Morteza Arab-Zozani |
spellingShingle |
Edris Kakemam Djavad Ghoddoosi-Nejad Zahra Chegini Khalil Momeni Hamid Salehiniya Soheil Hassanipour Hosein Ameri Morteza Arab-Zozani Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey Frontiers in Public Health knowledge attitudes practices COVID-19 online survey Iran |
author_facet |
Edris Kakemam Djavad Ghoddoosi-Nejad Zahra Chegini Khalil Momeni Hamid Salehiniya Soheil Hassanipour Hosein Ameri Morteza Arab-Zozani |
author_sort |
Edris Kakemam |
title |
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey |
title_short |
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey |
title_full |
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey |
title_fullStr |
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey |
title_full_unstemmed |
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Among the General Population During COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran: A National Cross-Sectional Online Survey |
title_sort |
knowledge, attitudes, and practices among the general population during covid-19 outbreak in iran: a national cross-sectional online survey |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Public Health |
issn |
2296-2565 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
Background: Emerged in December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of the largest pandemics ever. During the early phase, little was known about public knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) relating to coronavirus disease. This study was designed to determine KAP of Iranians toward COVID-19.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out in Iran from February 25 to April 25 using a self-administered questionnaire on 1,480 people. COVID-19-related KAP questions were adapted from other internationally validated questionnaires specific for infectious diseases.Results: All participants were aware of COVID-19. When asked unprompted, 80% of respondents could correctly cite fever, difficulty in breathing, and cough as signs/symptoms of COVID-19. Most of our sample population knew that staying at home and isolated (95.3%) as well as constant handwashing and using disinfectants (92.5%) could prevent COVID-19. However, there were also widespread misconceptions such as the belief that COVID-19 can be transmitted by wild animals (58%) and by air (48.3%). Unprompted, self-reported actions taken to avoid COVID-19 infection included handwashing with soap and water (95.4%), avoiding crowded places (93%), cleansing hands with other disinfectants (80.), and covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing (76.1%). The Internet and social media (94.5%) were the main coronavirus information sources. However, the most trusted information sources on coronavirus were health and medical professionals (79.3%). The majority of participants (77.0%) wanted more information about coronavirus to be available.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that people's knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 at the time of its outbreak was at a high level. |
topic |
knowledge attitudes practices COVID-19 online survey Iran |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.585302/full |
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