A snapshot of public knowledge of novel coronavirus disease 2019: a web-based national survey

Abstract Background Although the number of existing cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China has been decreasing since late February 2020, the number of confirmed cases abroad is surging. Improving public knowledge of COVID-19 is critical to controlling the pandemic. This study aimed to determine China’s public knowledge of COVID-19 and the attitudes towards control measures. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted over 48 h from 22:30 29 February 2020 to 22:30 2 March 2020 based on a self-administered web-based questionnaire. The survey was conducted on the WeChat network. Exponential non-discriminative snowball sampling was applied. The questionnaire was voluntarily completed by WeChat users. The questionnaire covered basic demographic information, public knowledge of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, psychological state, and attitudes towards the overall control measures. The primary outcome was the China’s public knowledge of COVID-19 and the attitudes towards control measures and secondary outcome was the psychological state of the public during this pandemic. Results The study included 10,905 participants and 10,399 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. Participants with tertiary education, younger participants and healthcare workers had better overall knowledge than other participants (all P < 0.05). Approximately 91.9% of the participants believed in person-to-person transmission and 39.1% believed in animal-to-person transmission. No significant correlation between anxiety and the number of regional existing confirmed cases was found, while participants in Hubei were more anxious than those in other regions. In general, 74.1% of the participants acknowledged the effectiveness of the overall control measures, and the percentage of participants with agreement with the overall control measures was negatively correlated with the number of regional existing confirmed cases (r = − 0.492, P = 0.007). Conclusions In conclusion, the survey revealed that the Chinese public had overall good knowledge of COVID-19 except for those indeterminate knowledges. With dynamic changes in the global pandemic situation and more research, further studies should be conducted to explore changes in public knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19 in the future. The media could be used in a strict and regular manner to publicize knowledge of such pandemics to halt their spread.

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Public knowledge of novel coronavirus diseases 2019: a web-based national survey

10.21203/rs.3.rs-28163/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yu Liu ◽

Dan Wang ◽

Hao Xu ◽

Ying Xiao ◽

Cui Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tertiary Education ◽

Dynamic Change ◽

Control Measures ◽

Psychological State ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Public Knowledge ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Web Based ◽

Chinese Public

Abstract Background Although the existing cases of COVID-19 in China have been reducing since late February 2020, the confirmed cases are surging abroad. Improving public knowledge regarding COVID-19 is critical to control the epidemic. The study aimed to determine the China’s public knowledge of COVID-19 and attitude towards the control measures.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 48 hours, from 29 February 2020, 22:30 to 2 March 2020, 22:30, based on a self-administered web-based questionnaire. The survey was conducted on the WeChat network. Exponential non-discriminative snowball sampling were applied. The questionnaire was voluntarily submitted by WeChat users. The questionnaire covered the basic demographic information, public knowledge about epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, psychological state, and attitude towards overall control measures. The primary outcome was the Chinese public knowledge regarding COVID-19 and the attitude towards the control measures and secondary outcome was psychological state of the public during this epidemic.Results The study included 10,905 participants and 10,399 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. Participants with tertiary education, younger age and healthcare workers had better overall knowledge compared with other participants (all P<0.05). About 91.9% of the participants believed in person-to-person transmission and 39.1% believed in animal-to-person transmission. No significant correlation between anxiety and regional number of existing cases was found, while participants in Hubei were more anxious than those in other regions. In general, 74.1% of participants acknowledged the effectiveness of overall control measures and it was negatively correlated with regional number of existing cases (r=-0.492, P=0.007).Conclusions In conclusion, the survey revealed that Chinese public had overall good knowledge regarding COVID-19 except for those indeterminate knowledge. With the dynamic change of global epidemic situation and more researches, further study would be conducted to explore the change of public knowledge and attitude about COVID-19 in the future.

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Government management capacities and the containment of COVID-19: a repeated cross-sectional study across Chinese cities

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041516 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. e041516

Author(s):

Wenchao Li ◽

Jing Li ◽

Junjian Yi

Keyword(s):

Outcome Measures ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Control Measures ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Travel Restrictions ◽

Government Management ◽

The Government ◽

Laws And Policies ◽

Novel Coronavirus

ObjectivesBetter understanding of the dynamics of the COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus disease) pandemic to curb its spread is now a global imperative. While travel restrictions and control measures have been shown to limit the spread of the disease, the effectiveness of the enforcement of those measures should depend on the strength of the government. Whether, and how, the government plays a role in fighting the disease, however, has not been investigated. Here, we show that government management capacities are critical to the containment of the disease.SettingWe conducted a statistical analysis based on cross-city comparisons within China. China has undergone almost the entire cycle of the anticoronavirus campaign, which allows us to trace the full dynamics of the outbreak, with homogeneity in standards for statistics recording.Primary and secondary outcome measuresOutcome measures include city-specific COVID-19 case incidence and recoveries in China.ResultsThe containment of COVID-19 depends on the effectiveness of the enforcement of control measures, which in turn depends on the local government’s management capacities. Specifically, government efficiency, capacity for law enforcement, and the transparency of laws and policies significantly reduce COVID-19 prevalence and increase the likelihood of recoveries. The organisation size of the government, which is not closely related to its capacity for management, has a limited role.

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The Uptake and Vaccination Willingness of COVID-19 Vaccine among Chinese Residents: Web-Based Online Cross-Sectional Study

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines10010090 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 90

Author(s):

Yi Kong ◽

Hao Jiang ◽

Zhisheng Liu ◽

Yi Guo ◽

Dehua Hu

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Binary Logistic Regression ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Personal Health ◽

Binary Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Web Based ◽

The Difference ◽

High Level

Objective: To investigate the uptake and vaccination willingness of the COVID-19 vaccine among Chinese residents and analyze the difference and factors that impact vaccination. Methods: The snowball sampling method was used to distribute online questionnaires. Relevant sociodemographic data along with the circumstances of COVID-19 vaccination were collected from the respondents. The χ2 test, independent samples t test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: Among 786 respondents, 84.22% had been vaccinated. Over 80% of the vaccinated population have completed all the injections because of supporting the national vaccination policies of China, while the unvaccinated population (23.91%) is mainly due to personal health status. Meanwhile, statistical analysis revealed that the main predictors of not being vaccinated were younger age (3 to 18 years old), personal health status, and lower vaccinated proportion of family members and close friends (p < 0.05). Conclusions: There was a high level of uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in China, and people who have not been vaccinated generally had a low willingness to vaccinate in the future. Based on our results, it suggested the next work to expand the coverage of the COVID-19 vaccination should be concentrated on targeted publicity and education for people who have not been vaccinated.

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Demand for Health Information on COVID-19 among Vietnamese

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17124377 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (12) ◽

pp. 4377 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Huong Thi Le ◽

Diep Ngoc Nguyen ◽

Ahmed Sam Beydoun ◽

Xuan Thi Thanh Le ◽

Thao Thanh Nguyen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Information Needs ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Web Based ◽

Multivariable Regression ◽

Ethnic Factors ◽

Demand For Health

Due to the rapid spread of coronavirus, Vietnam introduced its first national partial lockdown on April 1st, 2020. The public relied on online sources, whether through official websites or phone-based applications, to acquire up-to-date health information, provide accurate instructions, and limit misinformation. This study aims to provide insight regarding the current level of awareness of the pandemic, and to identify associated factors in Vietnamese participants to recommend necessary interventions. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a web-based survey during the first week of the lockdown period. There were 341 observations collected using a snowball sampling technique. A Tobit multivariable regression model was used to identify factors associated with the demand for each category of health information. The most requested information was the latest updated news on the epidemic, followed by information about disease symptoms and updated news on the outbreak. The prevalence of diverse socioeconomic, demographic, and ethnic factors in Vietnam requires consideration of the specific health information needs of unique groups. Identifying group-specific demands would be helpful to provide proper information to fulfill each population group’s needs.

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Knowledge and awareness on usage of mouth masks among dental fraternity during this pandemic COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

Asian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.3126/ajms.v11i6.30706 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 9-14

Author(s):

Ravichandra Ravi ◽

Srividya Athkuri ◽

Charishma Chowdary Ponugubati ◽

Roopesh Borugadda ◽

Sahithi Pamidimukkala ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infection Control ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Control Measures ◽

World Health ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Infection Control Measures ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Health Organization

Background: The pandemic caused by novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 is a highly infectious disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of Corona Virus Diseases (COVID 19) as a global public health emergency. Currently, research on novel coronaviruses is still in the primary stage. Aims and Objective: The aim of this study is to assess knowledge and awareness on the usage of mouth masks among dental fraternity during this pandemic COVID-19. Materials and Methods: A total of 507 dentists from the Andhra Pradesh (India) region completed a questionnaire-based survey on knowledge, awareness, and infection control measures, such as usage of mouth masks during the pandemic COVID -19. The questionnaire was tailored from the guidance and the information provided for healthcare workers issued by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A suitable sampling method was used for the collection of data, and the distribution of responses was presented as percentages. Explanatory statistics were performed for all groups based on the percentage of correct responses. Results: A total of 530 participated in the survey, out of which 507 dentists completely answered the survey, and the response rate was 95.6%. Among the respondents, general practitioners and postgraduates accounted for 58.8% and 41.2%, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference for all the questions solicited among the respondents. General or private practitioners seem to be more aware than postgraduates, as they have answered correctly (>65%) for almost all the questions. Conclusion: The inputs from the study help us to throw some light and fill up space where required. There is a specific and strong need to implement periodic educational programmes and training sessions on infection control practices for COVID-19 among dentists in particular.

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Awareness and knowledge of canine rabies: A state-wide cross-sectional study in Nigeria

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0247523 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. e0247523

Author(s):

Ahmad I. Al-Mustapha ◽

Abubakar A. Tijani ◽

Folashade O. Bamidele ◽

Oyewo Muftau ◽

Ahmed Ibrahim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Formal Education ◽

Tertiary Education ◽

Open Data ◽

Knowledge Score ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Control Measures ◽

Human Rabies ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Canine Rabies ◽

Dog Owners

Rabies is a highly fatal disease that is endemic in Nigeria. The poor community awareness and knowledge of canine rabies have thwarted the realization of zero deaths from dog mediated human rabies. This study aimed to assess the awareness and knowledge of canine rabies in Kwara state. A total of 1,460 questionnaires were administered to respondents in the three senatorial zones of the state using open data kit (ODK) on mobile phones between September 2019 to January 2020. The rabies awareness rate was 38.1%. The mean knowledge score was 3.78 ± 2.15. Only 10.6% (n = 59/557) of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge of canine rabies. Respondents had poor knowledge of the mode of transmission, symptoms, prevention, and the control measures needed to eliminate canine rabies. Only 20.1% of respondents owned at least a dog. Dog owners were 3.85× (95% CI: 2.89, 5.13; p < 0.01) more likely to be aware of canine rabies and were 1.78× (95% CI: 1.22–2.60; p = 0.003) more likely to have satisfactory knowledge about canine rabies than non-dog owners. Respondents with tertiary education were at least 6.81× (95% CI: 4.24, 10.92; p < 0.01) more likely to be aware of rabies than respondents with no formal education. The findings of this study showed very low awareness and knowledge of canine rabies among residents of Kwara state. Mass sensitization of the populace on the dangers of rabies should be intensified. Such interventions should be targeted at the general public and dog owners.

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Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Have Immediate Impacts on the Socio-Emotional and Digital Skills of Japanese Children

10.21203/rs.3.rs-39644/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yusuke Moriguchi ◽

Chifumi Sakata ◽

Xianwei Meng ◽

Naoya Todo

Keyword(s):

Peer Relationships ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Web Based ◽

Digital Devices ◽

Digital Skills ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Spread Of Infection ◽

Everyday Context

Abstract Background: A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread widely throughout the world. To reduce the spread of infection, children are prevented from going to school and have fewer opportunities for in-person communication. Although the pandemic has impacted the everyday lives of children, its impact on their development is unknown. This cross-sectional study compared Japanese children’s socio-emotional behaviors and skills for operating digital devices before and during the pandemic.Methods: Parents completed a web-based questionnaire before and during the pandemic for children ages 0-9. Children’s socio-emotional development in an everyday context was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Children’s basic touch interaction skills to operate digital devices and skills to use functions of digital devices were also measured.Results: The results indicated that during the pandemic, children were more prosocial, experienced more problems in their peer relationships, and had better digital skills, but no differences were found in emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity between before and during the pandemic. The differences in digital skills was explained by the duration of children’s media use.Conclusions: Overall, our results suggest the pandemic may have immediate impact on children’s socio-emotional behaviors and digital skills. Trial registration: We pre-registered our hypotheses, method, primary analyses, and sample size (https://osf.io/c7p6b)

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The knowledge and practice towards COVID-19 pandemic prevention among residents of Ethiopia: An Online Cross-Sectional Study

10.1101/2020.06.01.127381 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Daniel Bekele ◽

Tadesse Tolossa ◽

Reta Tsegaye ◽

Wondesen Teshome

Keyword(s):

Social Distance ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Hand Washing ◽

World Health ◽

The Novel ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Health Organization

AbstractBackgroundThe Novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is now the international concerns and a pandemic, since the World Health Organization declared as the outbreaks. The objective of this study to assess the prevention knowledge and practices towards the COVID-19 among the residents of Ethiopia.MethodsAn online cross-sectional study was conducted among the sample of Ethiopian residents via social platforms of the author’s network with the popular media such as Facebook, in Ethiopia from the April 15-22, 2020 and successfully recruited 341 responses. The snowball sampling was employed to recruit the participants. The data were analyzed using STATA version 14. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the level of knowledge and practices.ResultsThe majority of the respondents (80.35%) were male. The overall prevention knowledge of the participants towards the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was high. About 91.2% of the participant was heard about the novel coronavirus disease and Social Medias’ were the main source of the information. About 90% of the participants had a good prevention knowledge of maintaining social distance and frequent hand washing. The practices of the participants towards the COVID-19 prevention were very low. Out of 341 participants, only 61% and 84% of the participants were practicing social distance and frequent hand washing, respectively.ConclusionsMajority of the participants had knew the ways of protecting themselves from the novel coronavirus. But, there was deficiencies of changing these prevention knowledge to practice. This indicates that there was gap between knowledge and implementation of prevention strategies in the community. The concerned body should focus on providing education for the community regarding the implementation of the prevention knowledge to practice.

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The role of anxiety, stigma, religiosity, and economic condition in COVID-19 preventive efforts among lecturers

The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries ◽

10.3855/jidc.14085 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (09) ◽

pp. 1281-1285

Author(s):

Cucu Herawati ◽

Awis Hamid Dani ◽

Herlinawati ◽

Syaeful Bakhri ◽

Lilis Banowati ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Economic Recession ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Control Measures ◽

Economic Conditions ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Influential Variable ◽

Prevention And Control Measures ◽

And Control

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic influences the spirituality and mental health of individuals. It also has caused a global economic recession. COVID-19 is easily transmitted and causes death. Consequently, severe prevention and control measures of COVID 19 are required in this situation. This study aims to analyze the relationship between anxiety, stigma, religiosity, economic conditions, and the prevention of COVID-19. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was designed. The data collection was taken through online surveys. The population in this study is ninety-two lecturers from the College of Health Sciences and the State Islamic Institute who were chosen using a non-probability snowball sampling technique. Data analysis used logistic regression analysis. Results: The results showed that there was a relationship between anxiety (p = 0.001), stigma (p = 0.008), religiosity (p = 0.005) and the efforts to prevent COVID-19, while economic conditions (p = 0.882) were not related to the preventive efforts. The results of multivariate analysis indicated that the most influential variable affecting COVID-19 preventions was the level of anxiety, with an Odds Ratio of 4.9. Conclusions: There was a relationship between anxiety, stigma, religiosity, and COVID-19 preventions, while there was no relationship between economic conditions and COVID-19 preventions. The most influencing variable was anxiety. Respondents must be able to manage anxiety levels related to COVID-19 with good coping strategies.

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Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Have Immediate Impacts on Japanese Children? Evidence of the Socio-Emotional Behavior and Digital Skills

10.21203/rs.3.rs-55554/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yusuke Moriguchi ◽

Chifumi Sakata ◽

Xianwei Meng ◽

Naoya Todo

Keyword(s):

Peer Relationships ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Emotional Behavior ◽

Emotional Symptoms ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Web Based ◽

Digital Devices ◽

Digital Skills ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Spread Of Infection

Abstract Background: A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread widely throughout the world. To reduce the spread of infection, children are prevented from going to school and have fewer opportunities for in-person communication. Although the pandemic has affected the everyday lives of children, its impact on their development is unknown. This cross-sectional study compared Japanese children’s socio-emotional behaviors and skills for operating digital devices before and during the pandemic.Methods: Parents completed a web-based questionnaire before and during the pandemic for children aged 0-9. Children’s socio-emotional development in the context of everyday life was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Children’s basic touch interaction skills to operate digital devices and skills to use functions of digital devices were also measured.Results: The results indicated that during the pandemic, children were more prosocial, experienced more problems in their peer relationships, and had better digital skills, but no differences were found in emotional symptoms; conduct problems; and hyperactivity between, before, and during the pandemic. The differences in digital skills were explained by the duration of children’s media use.Conclusions: Overall, our results suggest that the pandemic may have an immediate impact on children’s socio-emotional behaviors and digital skills.Trial registration: Registration type: OSF Preregistration.Date registered: April 27, 2020.Registration from osf.io/tfh4k.(https://osf.io/c7p6b)

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