View of Pakistani Residents toward Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) during a Rapid Outbreak: A Rapid Online Survey

Khezar Hayat, Meagen Rosenthal, Sen Xu, Muhammad Arshed, Pengchao Li, Panpan Zhai, Gebrehaweria Kassa Desalegn and Yu Fang
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Khezar Hayat: Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Meagen Rosenthal: Department of Pharmacy Administration, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS 38677, USA
Sen Xu: Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Muhammad Arshed: Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine & Health Science, University of Putra Malaysia (UPM), Selangor 43400, Malaysia
Pengchao Li: Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Panpan Zhai: Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Gebrehaweria Kassa Desalegn: Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China
Yu Fang: Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a deadly disease that is affecting most of the countries worldwide. Public understanding, including knowledge about signs and symptoms, mode of transmission, and hygiene of COVID-19, is vital for designing effective control strategies during a public health crisis. The current study is aimed at investigating the public’s perspective about COVID-19, including their knowledge, attitude, and practices. Methods: A rapid online survey comprising 22 items was administered during the rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Questions were focused on the prevention, transmission, clinical features, and control of COVID-19. In addition, the attitudes and practices of the participants were explored. Descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and regression analysis were carried out during data analysis. Results: A total of 1257 respondents participated in this study. Most of the respondents had good knowledge (good = 64.8%, average = 30.5%, poor = 4.7%) of COVID-19. Gender, marital status, education, and residence were observed to have a significant association with the knowledge score. A vast majority of the survey respondents (77.0%) believed that COVID-19 would be controlled successfully in Pakistan. The practices of wearing a mask (85.8%) and handwashing (88.1%) were common among the participants. Conclusion: The participants demonstrated good knowledge and reasonable attitudes and practices toward most aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Improvements in certain areas could be made by mass-level education.

Keywords: coronavirus; COVID-19; knowledge; infection; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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