Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards measures for prevention of the spread of COVID-19: An online cross-sectional survey among Bangladeshi residents
The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19) rapidly infects people across the world, leading to a massive public reaction. Peoples’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards measures for prevention of the spread of COVID-19 are the most important for the control and prevention of the pandemic infectious disease. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude & practices (KAP) towards measures for prevention of the spread of COVID-19 among Bangladeshi residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey of 1765 respondents was conducted through the social media networks of authors. The respondents were older than 18 years, with an average age of 24.88 years (SD: 6.30). Approximately 15% of our participants received online training. The mean knowledge score was 14.49 (SD: 1.8, ranging: 0-17), and the overall correct response rate on this knowledge test was 85%. About 67.2 % scored well (above the mean: 4.5, range: 1-5) regarding the practices. To avoid the infection, 96.6% wear mask outside the home, and 98.7% washed hand with soap when came back. COVID-19 knowledge score was significantly associated with a lower risk of (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.79-0.92) of negative attitudes. Again, the awareness score was associated with a lower likelihood of (OR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.87-0.98) of poor practices. Online health education programs focusing on young people, housewife and people with less education may potentially improve the attitudes and practices to control the COVID-19 pandemic in long term in such a low resource setting.