Knowledge, Attitude, Awareness And Practice Towards Covid-19 Pandemic In Indian Citizens During The National Lockdown Period: A Quick Online Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented human health and economic consequences all across the globe. Being an international health emergency, the current state of global and national preparedness is at peak. The cases in India are increasing every day in spite of substantial efforts and control measures by the health authorities. Indian citizen’s knowledge, attitude, awareness, and practice influence their adherence towards COVID-19 control measures. This online study was conducted among Indian citizens KAAP towards COVID 19 during the national lockdown period. An online KAAP questionnaire was shared with four regional coordinators and it was shared with many citizens through online platforms in their regions. There were a total of 16 questionnaires in the KAAP online format. Among the survey respondents (n=12091), 57.9% were females, 51% hold an undergraduate degree, and 63.06% were from urban locality. The majority of the respondents (87.2%) had confidence that India will win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis. Also the majority of respondents (86.5%) have adequate knowledge about the COVID-19. The COVID-19 knowledge scores were significantly lower in persons without the confidence of winning (P<0.001). In multiple logistic regression analysis showed that COVID-19 knowledge score (OR 0.69, P<0.0001) were significantly associated with negative attitudes and preventive practices towards COVID-2019 with no confidence of winning. Most of the Indian citizens with an undergraduate degree, particularly females, have adequate knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic, and they hold optimistic attitudes and follow appropriate practice towards COVID-19. More targeted and focused health guidelines meeting the various segments of the Indian population should be provided at improving COVID-19 knowledge, which will improve their optimistic attitude. Due to fewer respondents, the results should not be generalized to the entire population.