How Does Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors Correlate in Relation to COVID-19? A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Nepal

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global health emergency requiring an effective public health response including citizen's roles in preventing spread and controlling the pandemic. Little is known about public knowledge, beliefs and behaviors in-relation to the pandemic in Nepal. This study aims to assess knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 among the general public and to identify associated factors.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between May–June 2020 with a sample of 645, recruited from 26 hospitals across Nepal. We conducted telephone interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire related to KAP regarding COVID-19. T-test and one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine group differences for socio-demographic variables. Linear regression and correlational analysis were performed to identify associated factors and measure strength and direction of relationships.Results: Overall mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice were 11.6 (SD 4.5), 2.7 (SD 1.8), and 9.9 (SD 1.93) respectively, but differed by socio-demographic characteristics. Positive but weak linear correlations were observed between knowledge-practice (r = 0.19, p < 0.01) and attitude-practice (r = 0.08, p < 0.05). The relationship between knowledge and education was fairly strong (r = 0.34, p < 0.01). Province, place of residence, ecological area, age, gender and caste/ethnicity were also significantly associated with KAP score of participants.Conclusion: The study found varying degrees of correlation between Knowledge, Attitude and Practice that may increase as the pandemic evolves in Nepal. Knowledge and level of education had positive associations with attitude and adherence to precautionary measures. The findings suggest a need for targeted community awareness interventions for the most vulnerable populations, men, those with no school education, the elderly and people living in rural areas.

COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers and associated factors in urban areas of Ethiopia

“…Taxi drivers with an educational level of secondary (grades 9-12) or above were 7.55 times more likely to have good knowledge than individuals with primary education only. This result was supported by previous studies in Northwest Ethiopia [57,58], in Egypt [59,60], in Pakistan [50,61], in Syria [39], in South Korea [62], in Nepal [63,64], in Iran [54] and in…”

“…Taxi drivers who had a positive attitude were more likely to have good knowledge than those with a negative attitude. This was supported by previous studies in Nigeria [46], Pakistan [61], China [66], Bangladesh [56,67], Iran [54] and in Nepal [63]. On the other hand, drivers' place of residence showed significant association with knowledge about COVID-19.…”

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Covid-19 Among Primary School Students in Kedah, Malaysia: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Indeed, there are mixed findings regarding the knowledge on COVID-19 related to gender differences. Contradict to previous study which demonstrated higher knowledge on COVID-19 among females 13,23,31,32 , several other studies indicated that male possessed greater COVID-19 knowledge 17,24,26 .…”

“…knowledge, attitude and practice, collectively, plays a pivotal role in ensuring these efforts and managing the disease transmission, thereby, several research involving COVID-19 related KAP has been recently carried out to utilize the valuable information for a greater good of the community. The research on knowledge, attitude and practice regarding COVID-19 has expanded to many countries including Malaysia 11,12,13 , Singapore 14 , Bangladesh 15,16 , China, India, and Pakistan 17 , Egypt 18 , Hong Kong 19 , Iran 20 , Palestine 21 , South Korea 22 , Sudan 23 , and Uganda 24 , Syria 25 , Nepal 26 , and Northeast Ethiopia 27 , as an effort towards improving the communication and intervention in response to the pandemic 10 .…”

“…Referring back to the people's knowledge, attitude and practice on COVID-19, a larger number of studies revealed that public has very poor knowledge on COVID-19 19,27 , and fair level of COVID-19 knowledge among people in Nepal and Sudan 10,23,25,26 . Overall, it can be concluded that people's knowledge on certain issues particularly during the public health emergencies can significantly impact the efforts initiated by the government to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.…”