Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices toward COVID‑19 among Persian Birth Cohort Participants

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID‑19 play an important role in controlling the outbreak. The present study aimed to investigate the KAP of a group of women toward COVID‑19 during the second wave of the outbreak in Iran.

A cross‑sectional survey of 2862 women was conducted in May and June 2020 in two centers of Persian birth cohort . The survey instrument was a self‑reported questionnaire Multivariable linear regression analysis to identify factors associated with knowledge and practice. toward COVID‑19 and multinomial logistic regression analyses to identify factors associated with attitudes. Unstandardized regression coefficients (β) and odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were used to quantify the associations between variables and KAP.

Good knowledge and optimistic attitudes toward the successful control of COVID‑19 was seen among participants. Overall, about 57.3% (1640), 41.1% (1176), and 1.6% (46) of respondents were categorized as low (score <50%), moderate (score: 50%–80%), and high (score > 80%) proper practice, respectively. Eighty‑five individuals with COVID‑19 experience (3.0%) had lower knowledge score (79.91 ± 17.93 vs. 83.81 ± 13.88, P < 0.001) and lower proper practice score (40.22 ± 16.57 vs. 47.96 ± 16.15, respectively, P < 0.001) compared to those who were not infected. A higher level of knowledge was associated with appropriate practice in both groups of positive attitudes (χ2 = 32.23, P < 0.001) and negative attitudes (χ2 = 31.49, P < 0.001).

This survey recorded good knowledge and relatively good attitudes among women. Special health policies plan should be taken for target populations among women during the COVID‑19 pandemic.