Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice among Hospital Visitors towards COVID-19

Introduction The knowledge , Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of individuals towards COVID-19 disease is of paramount importance to ensure public adherence towards pandemic control measures as recommend by Malaysian health authorities. Research Statement The knowledge , Attitudes and Practices (KAP) of individuals towards COVID-19 disease is of paramount importance to ensure public adherence towards pandemic control measures as recommend by Malaysian health authorities. Objective To evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) among Hospital visitors toward covid-19 pandemic. To assess differences of KAP score between subgroups of demographics and other selected characteristics. Method: Study Design In Hospital Seri Manjung, Perak between May – August 2020. Cross sectional , Self-Administrated questionnaire based study. Modified from previously published Questionnaire on COVID-19. 10 item on knowledge, 3 item on attitudes • 3 item on practice Variables Demographic variables Gender ,Ethnic , Age, Marriage status . Education level , Occupation Facemask use Face mask grade ( Medical or Non-Medical grade ) • Source of face mask (self-sourced or non self-sourced) Statistical Analysis All demographic and categorical variables were presented percentage (%) and Knowledge score presented mean ± standard deviation. Binary logistic regression to determine the association of demographic variables with practice. Results Demographic Among sample of 206 participants : Overall knowledge score 86% 61.7% female 82.0% Malay Ethnic 50% 31-50 years age group Overall knowledge score : 8.6 ±1.3 Min : 3 - Max : 10 Knowledge Score Top 3 highest score Education level : Degree : 9.4±1.0 Occupation: Public sector : 9.1±1.2 Age group: 31-50 years old : 8.8 ±1.1 Lowest score : Have no facemask : 8.0±1.0 Ethnic Non-Malay : 8.1±1.4 Non-medical grade facemask :8.1±1.4 Received facemask from others :8.1±1.4 Important Finding 99.8% know there is no effective cure for COVID-2019, but early treatment can help most subjects recover from the infection. 47.6% doesn’t know persons with COVID-2019 can infect the virus to others even when a fever is not present. 98.5% of the respondents agree that its important to use facemask in public place. 99.0% of the respondents have confidence that Malaysia will overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic successfully. 88.3% of the respondent have positive attitudes that COVID-19 could be successfully controlled.Adjusted for all other variables , respondents with : Age > 50 years old (AOR=3.5, 95% CI 1.1-11.1; p=.003) Married (AOR=5.9, 95% CI 1.9-18.0; p=.002) Medical grade facemask (AOR 9.2, 95% CI 3.5-24.5; p<.001) Self-Sourced facemask (AOR=7.2, 95% CI 1.4-37.10; p = .019) have appropriate practices towards COVID-19. Discussion and Conclusion This survey is among the first in Malaysia to assess Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice concurrent with facemask use. Our study indicate higher level of education , public employee and young adult have good knowledge on COVID-19 during local outbreak . 86% knowledge score on novel disease such as COVID-19 suggest that health education programs by Ministry Of Health were helpful in educating general public and maintaining safe practice . However targeted educational approach will be needed to improve levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices among less educated and those who are not able to procure own facemask