An analytical study on the awareness, attitude and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new variable of the Coronaviridae family. COVID-19 spreads primarily by contacting the virus either from a COVID-19-infected individual through coughing or sneezing or from COVID-19-contaminated surfaces. On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 as a pandemic. The government of Saudi Arabia was among the first countries in the world to take quick and serious precautions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has made the public aware of the virus transmission patterns and the importance of quarantine and curfew. Despite strict measures taken, the awareness of people towards infectious viruses remains the most important factor in limiting the widespread of diseases. Method A cross-sectional survey of 1767 participants, was conducted to explore the awareness, attitude and practice of COVID-19 in relation to socioeconomic data among residents in the city of Riyadh. Results Of all the participants, 58% showed a moderate level of awareness, 95% presented a high attitude and 81% presented an adequate practice regarding COVID-19. Significant positive correlation between awareness-attitude (r = 0.132, p-value < 0.001) and attitude-practice (r = 0.149, p-value < 0.001) were found. The gender of the participants was the only common characteristic significantly associated with both awareness and practice. This study revealed that males showed a slight increase (60%) in the level of awareness compared to female participants (57%), however, when it comes to the practice towards COVID-19, females showed slightly better practice (82%) than males (80%). The World health organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) were the main sources of information. Conclusion Despite the moderate public awareness, their attitude and practice were better. Therefore, public awareness must be improved to be prepared for epidemic and pandemic situations. A comprehensive public health education program is important to increase awareness and to reach sufficient knowledge.

Factors Affecting Infection Control Behaviors to Prevent COVID-19: An Online Survey of Nursing Students in Anhui, China in March and April 2020

“…The present study showed that in response to COVID-19, men were less likely to take protective behavior than women. This coincides with the research in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan [ 27 , 28 ]. Studies suggest that targeted health education should be conducted for this high-risk population that is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.…”

Awareness of COVID-19 among the General Population of the Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia

“…These findings were consistent with the earlier published data on COVID-19 [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] in Saudi Arabia. The earlier publications [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] have mentioned the leading indicators of COVID-19 (fever, shortness of breath, cough, etc. ); its incubation period (2-14 days); the risk of COVID-19 in patients with associated diseases (hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, etc.…”

“…These articles have also stated that presently, there no active cure for COVID-19. The data of Table 2 and Table 3 is also in concurrence with the earlier studies [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], which discuss the initiation, spread, symptoms, & complications of COVID-19 in different populations. They also highlight the preventive measures to be followed, government strategic plans, and the importance of public education about the COVID-19.…”

“…2c). A similar pattern of awareness has been reported by the previous study conducted in Al-Jouf [13], Riyadh [14], and Qassim [19]. The people of the NBRSA have shown satisfactory awareness about COVID-19.…”

“…Some studies related to the assessment of awareness among the Saudi population have been published [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The author believes that there exists no study that specifically assessed the level of awareness among the people of the NBRSA about the COVID-19.…”