Journal Article

KAP-COVIDGLOBAL: a multinational survey of the levels and determinants of public knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19

Mendonça, Adriana R, Alnasser, Yusra T, Hegazy, Doaa G, Masoud, Ahmed Taher, Istatiah, Loai J, Abd-Eltawab, Ahmed K, Abdelmonem, Mohamed, Kamal, Esraa M, Abushouk, Abdelrahman I., Abdel-Daim, Mohamed M., Elsayed, Sarah Makram, Elmoursi, Ahmed, Alareidi, Alaa, Assar, Ahmed, Abdelsattar, Ahmed T, Abd-Elgawad, Mohamed M, Zaazouee, Mohamed Sayed, Ragab, Khaled Mohamed, Sayed, Fatma M, Derballa, EzzEldeen A, Mohammed, Omar M, Femía, Victor Z, Nourelden, Anas Z, El-Fas, Kareem A, Sofy, Ahmed A

2021

Overview

ObjectiveThe 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.DesignCross-sectional study (survey).SettingThe questionnaire was distributed to potential respondents via online platforms.Participants71 890 individuals from 22 countries.MethodsWe 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.ResultsOverall, 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.ConclusionsAlthough 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.

• Publisher: British Medical Journal Publishing Group,BMJ Publishing Group LTD,BMJ Publishing Group
• Subject: Age / Antibiotics / Attitudes / Chronic illnesses / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / Demographics / Disease prevention / Disease transmission / Epidemiology / Infections / Knowledge / Masks / Mental health / Mortality / Older people / Pandemics / Perceptions / Polls & surveys / Public Health / Questionnaires / Sample size / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / virology