A Countrywide Survey in Saudi Arabia Regarding the Knowledge and Attitude of Health Care Professionals about Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as a pandemic. The updated knowledge and a positive attitude of health care professionals (HCPs) towards fighting any pandemic is the key to success. Thus, the present study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of HCPs towards COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A cross-sectional study was conducted across the KSA, covering its five geographical regions with a non-probability quota sample. Twenty-nine, close-ended questions evaluating the knowledge and attitude domain were included in the questionnaire. It was developed with the help of Qualtrics software and circulated among the HCPs through the electronic mode. We analyzed data from about 1040 HCPs using the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) v.21. All variables were presented in number and percentages. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed to explore the odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of independent variables for inadequate knowledge and attitude. Considering the “good” level of the respective domain, the HCPs have displayed better knowledge (48.2%) over attitude (33.8%). Female (aOR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.15–2.09; p = 0.004), Diploma degree (aOR: 2.51; 95% CI: 1.64–3.83; p < 0.001), 7–10 years’ experience (aOR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.01–2.15; p = 0.045) were at higher risk of having inadequate knowledge compared to their contemporaries. Among the sources, the Ministry of Health (MOH) website was the most popular source of information (76%). The knowledge and attitude of HCPs regarding COVID-19 was similar across all the regions of KSA. However, the continuing education program is warranted to fill the potential gap in knowledge for HCPs in higher-risk groups.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19 among dental health care professionals: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

“…These findings support the widespread assumption that greater age and years of experience lead practitioners to adopt a rational and evidence-based approach to tackle any situation. 27 These practitioners are more likely to keep up-to-date with current knowledge, which was probably reflected in our observations. These findings suggest that substantial measures are needed to increase the level of knowledge among young DHCPs.…”

“… 25 , 29 Hence, the Saudi government’s understanding of the disease and preparedness may have played a pivotal role in the prevention of disease transmission. Similarly, previous KSA-based studies of DHCWs, 19 dental faculty 20 and HCWs 27 have also praised the efforts and role of the Saudi Arabian government in timely dissemination of information. Contrary to the present findings, some studies indicate that more COVID-19-related information is obtained from physician websites or social media.…”

“… 36 Recent reports have identified loss of taste and smell as additional symptoms of COVID-19. 27 HCWs are a potential source of disease transmission from patients to themselves and subsequently to their friends and family, 17 and may experience stress and fear of transmitting the disease. DHCP awareness of the initial symptoms may play a pivotal role in mitigating the disease.…”

“…Following Alduraywish et al. (2020), 27 cutoff values were created to code each KAP domain score and the overall score using an ordinal scale with three categories. Correspondingly, the knowledge and practice scores were categorized as ‘adequate’ (11–15), ‘average’ (6–10) and ‘inadequate’ (0–5).…”

Knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19 among people living with HIV in Pune, India: a cross-sectional study

“…12 Multiple studies are conducted in India and globally on KAP among general population, health care workers and diabetic individuals but the data among HIV infected individuals on knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards COVID-19 is lacking. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19 among PLHIV.…”