Narayana Goruntla, Pradeepkumar Bhupalam, Ramaiah Jinka Dasaratha, Jayasree Thummala, Yadav Dasari Laluprasad, Kumar Bonala Kranthi
Dept. of Pharmacy Practice, Raghavendra Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (RIPER) - Autonomous, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, 515721, India.
Dept. of Pediatrics, Rural Development Trust (RDT) Hospital, Bathalapalli, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Curr Med Res Pract. 2020 Jul-Aug;10(4):153-159. doi: 10.1016/j.cmrp.2020.07.013. Epub 2020 Jul 21.
The success of battle against COVID-19 depends on public adherence towards infection control measures, which is greatly affected by their knowledge, perception, and practices towards this infection.
To assess the knowledge, perception, and practice towards COVID-19 among the general public of India.
A cross-sectional, online survey was performed among Indian residents who were aged above 15 years. A pre-validated online questionnaire on COVID-19 was distributed through various messenger groups and social media in the author's network. The questionnaire comprised of four sections to collect data regarding demographics, knowledge, perception, and practices towards COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to correlate demographics with knowledge, perception and practice scores about COVID-19.
A total of 2459 participants (Males = 1424; Females = 1035) completed the survey tool. The mean age of the study participants was 24.5 ± 7.2. The main sources for COVID-19 information were television (74.5%) and social media (71.0%). Majority of the respondents shown a correct rate of knowledge (74.7%), perception (57.6%), and practices (88.1%) towards COVID-19. Respondents aged more than 40 years; higher education level, living in urban areas, and pursuing healthcare profession were positively associated with high knowledge, perception, and practices scores towards COVID-19.
The study concludes, majority of the respondents shown a good knowledge and right practices towards COVID-19 pandemic, still there was a gap in right perception towards underlying myths and facts about COVID-19. Providing educational programs and circulating WHO myth busters through media or social networks can resolve underlying misconceptions about COVID-19 and improves the knowledge, perception, and practices among public.
抗击新冠疫情的成功取决于公众对感染控制措施的遵守情况，而这又受到他们对这种感染的知识、认知和行为的极大影响。
评估印度普通公众对新冠病毒的知识、认知和行为。
对15岁以上的印度居民进行了一项横断面在线调查。通过作者网络中的各种信使群组和社交媒体分发了一份经过预验证的关于新冠病毒的在线问卷。该问卷包括四个部分，以收集有关人口统计学、对新冠疫情的知识、认知和行为的数据。采用多元线性回归分析将人口统计学与关于新冠病毒的知识、认知和行为得分进行关联。
共有2459名参与者（男性 = 1424名；女性 = 1035名）完成了调查工具。研究参与者的平均年龄为24.5 ± 7.2岁。新冠病毒信息的主要来源是电视（74.5%）和社交媒体（71.0%）。大多数受访者对新冠病毒的知识正确率（74.7%）、认知正确率（57.6%）和行为正确率（88.1%）。40岁以上的受访者；受过高等教育、居住在城市地区且从事医疗保健行业的人，与对新冠病毒的高知识、高认知和高行为得分呈正相关。
该研究得出结论，大多数受访者对新冠疫情表现出良好的知识和正确的行为，但在对新冠病毒相关谣言和事实的正确认知方面仍存在差距。通过媒体或社交网络提供教育项目并传播世界卫生组织的谣言终结者，可以消除对新冠病毒的潜在误解，并提高公众的知识、认知和行为水平。
