COVID-19 PANDEMIC: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF PUBLIC IN\nSOUTH INDIA

Abstract

Background:Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) which was \uf001rst diagnosed in China in December 2019, soon spread all over the world and was\ndeclared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Considering that the knowledge, attitude and practices of the public towards this\npandemic is likely to in\uf002uence their adoption of preventive measures aimed at controlling the transmission of the virus, it is essential to evaluate the\nsame. Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted among participants representative of the South Indian Population. A semi-structured\nonline questionnaire was designed using Google forms and disseminated within the networks of the researchers. There were 10 questions framed to\nassess the knowledge of the participants, 6 to assess their attitude and 12 to know the safe practices adopted by them to prevent acquiring the\ninfection. Each response indicative of a true statement, positive attitude or good practice were allotted 10 points. In case of incorrect response\nincluding “Do not know” the participant received zero points. Results: Atotal of 1212 responses were generated from the online survey of which\n240 participants (19.8%) were health care workers. The mean scores were 85.68±15.76 in the knowledge domain, 42.83 ± 9.59 in the attitude\ndomain and 98.6 ±12.8 in the practice domain.91.2% of the participants in the study have good knowledge, 41.3% positive attitude and 87.9%\nadopt healthy preventive practices. Conclusion:The knowledge and practice scores were high indicative of the responsive health implementation\nsystems in these states. Attitude score was found to be low which directly re\uf002ected on the exponential rising trend in the number of cases at present.\nIt is imperative that the general public must be given access to authentic information to improve their knowledge, attitude and practices.