ABSTRACT
The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the worst global crisis. Since no successful treatment and vaccine have been reported, efforts to improve the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices are critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19. This study aims to investigate the general public knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding COVID-19. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in three developing countries (China, India, and Pakistan). The reason for choosing only three countries is to identify the cross-border effect statistically and data collection constraints. The IBM SPSS version 23.0 was used for descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analysis of the study. One thousand one hundred and sixty participants completed the study, one-quarter of them were female, and three-quarters were male. The study's findings evidenced that the knowledge and attitude correlation was 58.4% and between knowledge and practices 18.2%. Furthermore, the knowledge was found lower in females, among India and Pakistan, and people aged less and equivalent to 30 years. The attitudes among respondents were found poorer among unmarried females and India and Pakistan residents. While the practices found lower among employed, unemployed and, respondents had a bachelor's degree, and females reside in India. And future studies should focus on factors that influence the government regarding the imposition of lockdown, boost the economy in the pandemic, and motivate the general public to follow the health institution's instructions.
ABSTRACT
To date, there has been little work dedicated to investigating the general public knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in developing countries. This study aims to investigate the general public knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding COVID-19. One thousand three hundred and eighty participants completed the study, one-third of them were female, and two-thirds were male. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted to collect responses from three developing countries (China, India, and Pakistan). The IBM SPSS version 23.0 was used for descriptive and regression analysis of the study. The study’s findings include the intermediate knowledge and attitude of the general public compared to practices regarding COVID-19. Marital status is significantly linked with knowledge, whereas country and marital status are significantly linked with attitude, gender, and country significantly linked with behavior. Moreover, the correlation between knowledge, attitude, and general public behavior were significant (correlation coefficient = 0.322, p < 0.05). The study’s findings proposed that the general public should follow the instructions of government and health agencies to stay home stay safe. And future studies should focus on motivating factors for governments to impose lockdown.