A cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards COVID-19 pandemic among the Syrian residents

Abstract

Background Effective COVID-19 pandemic management requires adequate understanding of factors that influence behavioral changes. This study aims to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 among Syrians in a post-conflict context. Method A cross sectional web-based survey was conducted on the Syrian residents of 16 years and above. It contains questions on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) with respect to COVID-19. Participants’ demographic characteristics are recorded and analyzed. The study is conducted during the global outbreak of COVID-19. Results A total of 706 participants (female, 444; male, 262) were enrolled. This study included 405 participants aged between 16 and 29, 204 aged between 30 and 49, and 97 aged above 60 years. There were 642 who have a university degree and 61 who have high school degree. Among the participants 253 were students, 316 were employed, 75 work as freelancers, and 62 were unemployed. Results showed that overall knowledge score towards the disease was about 60% (mean score 3.54 ± 1.20; range 0–6). Knowledge scores significantly differed across age groups (P < 0.05), education levels (P = 0.001), and occupations (P < 0.05). Attitude and practice scores were 2.45 ± 0.81 (range 0–4), 5.90 ± 1.52 (range 0–8), respectively. Attitude scores were significantly different between males and females (P < 0.05), whereas practice scores varied significantly across gender (P < 0.05), age groups (P = 0.01), education levels (P = 0.015), occupations (P < 0.05), and according to knowledge score (P = 0.000). Results from multiple linear regression indicated that lower knowledge scores were significantly associated with lower education level (P < 0.05), whereas poor preventive practices were common among male, young and unemployed participants with significance levels of P < 0.01, P = .000, P < 0.01, respectively. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that the Syrian residents demonstrate modest knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 at the time of its global outbreak. Efforts should be directed towards raising the awareness of the disease to improve their practices in the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for future epidemics.

Willingness to Be Vaccinated against COVID-19 in Spain before the Start of Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…However, not all the studies coincided with the age of greatest acceptance; thus, as opposed to our study, the groups which showed the greatest rejection were those older than 75 years old, despite being a very vulnerable age group [ 30 ]. The type of employment did not have an influence on vaccine rejection; however, a lower level of education was associated with the rejection of vaccines, as previously described in other studies conducted in Syria and Australia [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]. There was evidence that political leanings played an important role on the attitude associated to vaccines.…”

Public Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice toward COVID-19 Prevention: a Literature Review

“…On the contrary, Gao et al (2020) showed that the respondent in China had good practice regarding COVID-19 prevention, similar to the respondent in Uganda (Okello et al, 2020) and Malaysia (Azlan et al, 2020). The reason might be that the respondent has good knowledge and a positive attitude that applied into good practice (Ahdab, 2021;Gao et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021). This represents a willingness for respondents to make behavioural changes during the COVID-19 pandemic (Azlan et al, 2020).…”

“…This is possible because the belief can pass this situation and win against the disease by supporting lockdown decision and following restrictive policies (Kartheek et al, 2020). Efficacy beliefs had a significant and robust impact on practising preventive behaviours, implying promoting preventive behaviours toward COVID-19 (Ahdab, 2021;Azlan et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021;Okello et al, 2020 (Gao et al, 2020). Other studies showed that it might be because the availability of hand washing facilities (Lau et al, 2020;Mohamed et al, 2021).…”

“…It could be due to the majority of the respondents having no internet access or living in the rural area so that they have less information about the disease and have financial barriers that would impact their attitude toward COVID-19 (Ferdous et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2021). Other studies revealed that the attitude to wear mask was low (Ahdab, 2021;Mohamed et al, 2021). The result might be that the mask's price was high, no law enforcement, and inconsistent information about wearing the mask in the public area (Mohamed et al, 2021).…”

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Risk Perception Toward Avian Influenza Virus Exposure Among Cuban Hunters

“…Good knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) targeted toward certain diseases or infections among the public are essential for successful control and outbreak prevention of pandemics (15,16). However, efforts to better define KAPs in hunters have been scarce, and mainly limited to Canada and the United States of America (17)(18)(19).…”