Faculty of Medicine, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt.
Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt.
BMJ Open. 2021 Feb 23;11(2):e043971. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043971.
The adherence to public health recommendations to control COVID-19 spread is influenced by public knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP). We performed this cross-sectional study to assess the levels and determinants of public KAP towards COVID-19 in a large, multinational sample.
Cross-sectional study (survey).
The questionnaire was distributed to potential respondents via online platforms.
71 890 individuals from 22 countries.
We formulated a four-section questionnaire in English, followed by validation and translation into seven languages. The questionnaire was distributed (May to June 2020) and each participant received a score for each KAP section.
Overall, the participants had fair knowledge (mean score: 19.24±3.59) and attitudes (3.72±2.31) and good practices (12.12±1.83) regarding COVID-19. About 92% reported moderate to high compliance with national lockdown. However, significant gaps were observed: only 68.2% knew that infected individuals may be asymptomatic; 45.4% believed that antibiotics are an effective treatment; and 55.4% stated that a vaccine has been developed (at the time of data collection). 71.9% believed or were uncertain that COVID-19 is a global conspiracy; 36.8% and 51% were afraid of contacting doctors and Chinese people, respectively. Further, 66.4% reported the pandemic had moderate to high negative effects on their mental health. Female gender, higher education and urban residents had significantly (p≤0.001) higher knowledge and practice scores. Further, we observed significant correlations between all KAP scores.
Although the public have fair/good knowledge and practices regarding COVID-19, significant gaps should be addressed. Future awareness efforts should target less advantaged groups and future studies should develop new strategies to tackle COVID-19 negative mental health effects.
控制 COVID-19 传播的公共卫生建议的遵守情况受到公众知识、态度和行为（KAP）的影响。我们进行了这项横断面研究，以评估在一个大型跨国样本中公众对 COVID-19 的 KAP 水平和决定因素。
横断面研究（调查）。
通过在线平台向潜在受访者分发问卷。
来自 22 个国家的 71890 人。
我们用英语制定了一个四部分的问卷，然后进行验证并翻译成七种语言。问卷于 2020 年 5 月至 6 月分发，每位参与者的每个 KAP 部分都有一个分数。
总体而言，参与者对 COVID-19 有良好的知识（平均得分：19.24±3.59）、态度（3.72±2.31）和良好的实践（12.12±1.83）。约 92%的人报告说，他们遵守国家封锁的程度为中度至高度。然而，观察到了明显的差距：只有 68.2%的人知道感染者可能无症状；45.4%的人认为抗生素是一种有效的治疗方法；55.4%的人表示已经开发出疫苗（在数据收集时）。71.9%的人相信或不确定 COVID-19 是一场全球阴谋；36.8%和 51%的人分别害怕接触医生和中国人。此外，66.4%的人报告说，大流行对他们的心理健康产生了中度至高度的负面影响。女性、较高的教育程度和城市居民的知识和实践得分显著（p≤0.001）更高。此外，我们观察到所有 KAP 得分之间存在显著相关性。
尽管公众对 COVID-19 有良好/良好的知识和实践，但仍存在明显差距。未来的意识努力应该针对弱势群体，未来的研究应该制定新的策略来应对 COVID-19 对心理健康的负面影响。
