Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.
Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Jan 5;21(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-10083-y.
The Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has created havoc globally as countries worldwide struggle to combat this pandemic. Since prevention and social isolation are known to be the only ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this has created challenges among the lower-middle income countries (LMIC) including Pakistan, as it battles between an under-resourced healthcare, an economic shutdown, and widespread myths and misconceptions. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and perceptions regarding COVID-19 as public understanding is vital to help facilitate the control of this outbreak.
A pre-validated online questionnaire was distributed among the general population of Pakistan from 1st to 12th June 2020. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS v25. Adequate knowledge was assigned as a score of > 4 (range: 0-8) and good perception as a score of > 3 (range: 0-5). Chi-square test was used to determine the significance of difference in knowledge and perception of COVID-19 with socio-demographic characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was run to identify factors associated with adequate knowledge and perception. P < 0.05 was considered as significant.
A total of 1200 respondents participated in this study with a wide range of age groups and education. Majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge (93.3%) with a mean score of 6.59 ± 1.35, and good perception (85.6%) with a mean score of 4.29 ± 0.82. Significant differences in knowledge and perception were observed among genders, age groups, education and between students and employees in the healthcare and non-healthcare department. A multivariate analysis revealed a higher educational status and female gender to be significant predictors of adequate knowledge and perception.
Albeit the surge of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, the participants demonstrated an overall adequate knowledge and good perception towards COVID-19. There is a need to follow the preventive protocols and dissemination of correct information through conducting educational interventions that target safe health practices and provide appropriate information on this infection.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在全球范围内造成了严重破坏，因为各国都在努力应对这一大流行病。由于预防和社会隔离被认为是防止 COVID-19 传播的唯一方法，这给包括巴基斯坦在内的中低收入国家（LMIC）带来了挑战，因为它在资源不足的医疗保健、经济停摆以及广泛的神话和误解之间进行了斗争。因此，进行了一项研究，以评估人们对 COVID-19 的知识、态度和看法，因为公众的理解对于帮助控制疫情至关重要。
2020 年 6 月 1 日至 12 日，向巴基斯坦的普通民众发放了预先验证的在线问卷。使用 SPSS v25 分析描述性统计数据。将足够的知识定义为得分>4（范围：0-8），良好的感知定义为得分>3（范围：0-5）。使用卡方检验确定 COVID-19 的知识和感知与社会人口特征的差异的显著性。进行逻辑回归分析以确定与充足知识和感知相关的因素。P<0.05 被认为具有显著性。
共有 1200 名受访者参加了这项研究，年龄范围和教育程度广泛。大多数受访者具有足够的知识（93.3%），平均得分为 6.59±1.35，良好的感知（85.6%），平均得分为 4.29±0.82。在性别、年龄组、教育程度以及医疗保健和非医疗保健部门的学生和员工之间，知识和感知存在显著差异。多变量分析显示，较高的教育程度和女性性别是充足知识和感知的重要预测因素。
尽管 COVID-19 在巴基斯坦的病例激增，但参与者对 COVID-19 总体上表现出足够的知识和良好的认识。有必要通过开展针对安全健康实践的教育干预措施，并提供有关这种感染的适当信息，遵循预防方案和传播正确信息。
