Awareness, Attitude and Practices Related to Covid-19 in General Public of Twin Cities of Pakistan During the Third Wave: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the Awareness, Attitude and Practices related to Covid-19 in general public of twin cities of Pakistan.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted across the twin cities, Islamabad and Rawalpindi in the months of August and October 2021. An adaptive cross sectional study was conducted, utilizing self administered questionnaires, distributed amongst patients above 15 years old in multiple hospitals. Confi dentiality and voluntary participation was ensured in the collection of data throughout the study. Results: About 305 patients participated in this study, of which 185 (60.3%) were male and 122 (39.7%) were females. Results showed that majority of the 188 participants (61.2%) believe that Covid-19 spreads due to close contact with an infected person. 177 participants (57.7%) believe that it spreads by coughing, followed by 50 (16.3%) participants believing transmission is due to touching contaminated surfaces. Around 86.3% (265 participants) say that the symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough and diffi culty breathing. When asked about prevention; washing hands with soap and water, wearing masks, maintaining social distance, avoiding touching nose and eyes with hands and avoiding contact with infected people were the most chosen options by the participants. 229 participants (74.6%) claimed to have arranged for hand washing with soap inside or outside their houses and 133 participants (43.3%) had temporarily closed their homes for outside people. Conclusion: The general public are well-aware regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic, having basic knowledge of its modes of transmission, prevention and treatment of the disease.