Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Coronavirus Disease 2019, Among People in a Tertiary Care Hospital in India

ABSTRACT

Background Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread across the entire globe causing a lot of fear among the masses. India had more than 2,500 confirmed cases and more than 70 deaths at the time of submission of this article. This is probably the first study from India on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19. Presently, there is only 1 similar study from China. Methods A cross-sectional observational study was performed in a tertiary care hospital in India to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the participants toward COVID-19 during the pandemic. The participants had to answer a questionnaire in the language well understood by them. It pertained to their basic knowledge about this disease, their attitudes, and correct practices. The participants were either doctors, staff, patients, or relatives visiting the hospital. Results Among the various age groups, the highest proportion (57.21%) of very good knowledge was in the 20 to 30 years age group. Among the respondents, poor knowledge was seen in the patients. Overall, 47.99% participants had an extremely optimistic attitude, whereas <50% doctors had extremely correct practices toward COVID-19. This is unacceptable during the ongoing pandemic and reveals scope for improvement. Conclusions The public health authorities at the regional and state level can use this information to increase awareness among the population, which may help to contain the pandemic. Educational campaigns targeting the correct population groups are essential to reduce the public anxiety toward this pandemic. Correspondence to Purwa Doke, MD, Department of Infectious Diseases, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University Medical College, Plot 51, Saikripa Society, Dhankawdi, Pune, Maharshtra, India 411043. E-mail purwadoke@gmail.com. The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose. This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic or until permissions are revoked in writing. Upon expiration of these permissions, PMC is granted a perpetual license to make this article available via PMC and Europe PMC, consistent with existing copyright protections. Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.