scholarly journals Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among university students in Pakistan: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-686
Author(s):  
Shah Faisal ◽  
Junaidi Khotib ◽  
Elida Zairina

Abstract Objectives Pakistan has taken unprecedented measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Complete lockdown followed by smart lockdown and quarantine centres was established. Their awareness and attitude towards COVID-19 had an impact on the individual behaviour of the precautionary measures. The current study examined the knowledge, attitudes and practices of university students in Pakistan. Methods An online cross-sectional study was conducted among university students in Pakistan. A questionnaire containing demographic and KAP information related to COVID-19 has been created. Results A total of 358 students responded to the survey, and 353 participants completed the study. Among the respondents, 61.5% were male, 76.8% were single, and 58.4% enrolled in a bachelor’s degree. The results showed that most of the respondents (68%) had good knowledge about COVID-19, while the overall knowledge score was 8.78 ± 1.63 (range 1–10). The majority of the respondents (90.9%) were aware of COVID-19, 95.8% knew the sign and symptoms, and 83% of them knew about its transmission. We found a significant difference in knowledge scores across education and area of study p<0.05. More than half (53.5%) of the respondents were satisfied with the facilities provided by the government of Pakistan. The average practices score among the students was 5.08 ± 1.312. A significant difference was found among practice score and area of study p<0.05. Conclusions Most of the students have an adequate level of knowledge and are doing better preventive measures against COVID-19. Health education initiatives are required to ensure best practice among the high-risk groups.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikhlas Solehah Abd Rahim ◽  
Muhammad Badrul Nizam Roslan ◽  
Nur Najihah Mohamad Zaini ◽  
Nur Syazwani Kasim ◽  
Muhammad Izz Hilmi Mohd Yazid ◽  
...  

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major impact to global public health including one of the high risk groups which is the medical students. This study was intended to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among medical students in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). MATERIAL AND METHOD: An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 438 medical students of IIUM from 6th July 2020 to 9th July 2020. KAP towards COVID-19 was measured using a structured Malay and English version questionnaire consisting of 13 items on knowledge, 3 items on attitudes and 3 items on practices. RESULTS: The average correct response rate on knowledge was 85.4%. Only 12.1% of the students had correct knowledge on all items, and 1 in every 4 and 5 students had misconceptions on the clinical features and transmission of COVID-19. In term of attitudes towards COVID-19, majority of the respondents believed that COVID-19 would be effectively controlled (85%) and had faith that Malaysia could overcome the war against COVID-19 (99%). Most of the respondents practiced good towards COVID-19 in avoiding crowded places (90%), wearing face masks (95%) and practicing hand hygiene (91.6%). CONCLUSION: Although the results are positive towards KAP, only 1 in every 10 students responded correctly to all knowledge questions, and few proportions had misconceptions on the disease and did not maintain adequate practices. Policies aimed at appropriate health promotion activities may ensure empowering the medical students with adequate knowledge on all aspects of COVID-19, and practice properly following the standard operating procedure implemented by the government.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hani A. Naseef ◽  
Ni'meh Al-Shami ◽  
Lilian S. Abu Hadba ◽  
Leen A. Humos ◽  
Ruba N. Shaheen ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim: COVID-19 the novel corona virus that has been characterized as a pandemic; as it spreads all over the world and has so far infected more than 20 million worldwide. In Palestine, the first seven cases were documented on March 5th, 2020 followed by the declaration of the state of emergency. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 among Birzeit University students.Subject and methods: A cross sectional study was carried out, a questionnaire was developed based on the WHO, CDC, ECDC recommendations. The questionnaire was distributed online and filled by Birzeit University students. Chi-square testing was performed to check for significant association between KAP and different sociodemographic variables. Binary logistic regression performed to identify and control the confounding factors. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 22).Results: A total of 665 students have completed the online questionnaire. The mean age was (20.55±3.069) years. Multivariate analysis revealed that males, students from health professions and scientific faculties and those with highly educated parents had manifested a good knowledge level (GKL) about Covid -19. Regarding students’ practices, less negative practices were prompted by students from health professions faculty and the students living at the middle governorate of Palestine compared to north, south and Jerusalem dwellers. With regards to the practices, the vast majority of the participants held a positive and very cautious practice towards the COVID-19 epidemic.Conclusion: Our results revealed that students had variable knowledge regarding Covid-19 and the vast majority depended on the official media briefs in Palestine as a source of information. With regards to practices, positive and cautious practices towards the COVID-19 epidemic were carried out by the vast majority of participants.


Author(s):  
Israa Baker ◽  
Nizar Marzouqa ◽  
Bashar Nafe’ Yaghi ◽  
Samer Osama Adawi ◽  
Shahd Yousef ◽  
...  

COVID-19 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus accompanied by a tsunami of misinformation and fake news. This can weaken the public health responses by affecting the COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of the public. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was designed during the early stage of the pandemic to evaluate the KAP of Palestinian university students and their commonly used information sources. We found that the most trusted information source among students was the World Health Organization (WHO), followed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) briefings and healthcare workers, whereas social media was the most frequently used source of information. The participants exhibited a high level of COVID-19-related knowledge, having an average score of 8.65 (range: 0–10). In total, 76% avoided going to crowded places, and only 33% wore a mask while being outdoors. The vast majority (93%) checked the accuracy of COVID-19-related information before publishing it, 56% used the WHO and MoH briefings for fact-checking, and only 8% relied on healthcare workers. This was particularly the case for those who lived in refugee camps. This study provides an insight into the information sources used by Palestinian university students, the sources they trust, and the information formats they prefer. These results may help public health authorities to locate the information sources through which university students should be targeted. Efforts should be made to recommend healthcare workers as credible information sources. In this way, they will be able to prevent the spread of misleading information and provide high-quality information, especially within unconventional settings such as refugee camps.


Author(s):  
Ali Gillani ◽  
Fakir Amirul Islam ◽  
Khezar Hayat ◽  
Naveel Atif ◽  
Caijun Yang ◽  
...  

Background: Low knowledge about diabetes risk factors coupled with high disease prevalence is common in low-resource countries. This study evaluated diabetes-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the general population in Punjab (Pakistan). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in five districts in Punjab from January to March 2017. Data were collected from 2019 adults aged 18–90 years through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. The total knowledge score ranged from 0–9; a score ≥6 was considered adequate diabetes awareness. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and linear and binary logistic regression were used for the analyses. Results: Respondents’ mean age was 32.92 ± 11.4 years. In total, 85.9% of respondents had heard of diabetes, and 30.1% knew about the glucose tolerance test. We found 2.3% of respondents scored zero for diabetes knowledge, 11.3% scored 9, and 47.4% scored ≥6 (adequate awareness). Being female (β = 0.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16, 0.05; p = 0.001), socioeconomic status (β = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.36; p < 0.001), being diabetic (β = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.53, 1.10; p < 0.001), and higher education (β = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.33; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with knowledge score. Respondents with high socioeconomic status showed significantly higher positive attitudes compared with those with low socioeconomic status (adjusted odds ratio 1.57, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.24). Only 8.7% (30/343) of those diagnosed with diabetes had never undergone blood glucose screening since diagnosis. Conclusions: Knowledge of diabetes risk factors, management, and care is low in Pakistan’s general population. Targeted public education programs should be instigated at a national level to increase understanding of diabetes prevention and treatment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Owono Etoundi ◽  
Junette Arlette Metogo Mbengono ◽  
Ferdinand Ndom Ntock ◽  
Joel Noutakdie Tochie ◽  
Dominique Christelle Anaba Ndom ◽  
...  

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