Study of knowledge, attitude, and practice in over 20-year-old individuals regarding the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran

Due to the prevalence of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19), it is essential to know the level of people’s knowledge, attitude, and practice toward this disease to plan preventive decisions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate knowledge, attitude, and practice in over 20-year-old individuals regarding the new Coronavirus in Iran.

This cross-sectional study incorporated 506 individuals in Iran, in 2020. Data were collected by a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire through virtual and non-probable methods (available and snowball sampling). The questionnaire used in the current study entailed questions about demographic (9 questions), knowledge (3 questions, range 1-3), attitude (10 questions), and practice (6 questions). Finally, the data were entered into SPSS16 software, and independent t-tests and analysis of variance with a P-value less than 0.05 were used to analyze the data.

The average scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice of the studied subjects regarding the Coronavirus were 80.13, 75.6, and 66.5, respectively. In this study, 83% of people were aware of Coronavirus transmission methods, and more than 85% of people were fully aware of the symptoms of the disease. Also, more than 76% of people knew how to prepare the disinfectant solution. The average score of attitude and practice of women, compared to men, toward COVID-19 was markedly higher. There was also no significant association between the gender and score of knowledge, which its average was higher in individuals with non-university education than educated people.

The study reveals that the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the people about the coronavirus are almost at the optimal level. However, more attention from the policymakers and the media is required to break the chain of infection.