Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, and Sources of Information (KAPS) Toward COVID-19 During the Second Wave Pandemic Among University Population in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards community-acquired pneumonia and COVID-19 among general population: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of the general population to community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and COVID-19.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2022 and February 2023, involving the general population from Ningbo Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a self-developed questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 637 valid questionnaires were collected, with the majority of participants being female (62.48%). The mean score for knowledge, attitudes, and practices were 7.60 ± 2.39 (possible range: 0-12), 43.20 ± 4.57 (possible range: 11-55), and 34.57 ± 4.95 (possible range: 10-50), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that master's degree or above (OR = 6.04, 95% CI: 1.80-20.31, P = 0.004) and occupation in business or service careers (OR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.17-0.48, P < 0.001) were independent associated with knowledge. The knowledge (OR = 1.32, 95%CI: 1.20-1.44, P < 0.001) and female gender (OR = 1.48, 95%CI: 1.03-2.14, P = 0.036) were independently associated with positive attitudes. Attitudes (OR = 1.34, 95%CI: 1.26-1.43, P < 0.001) and a monthly household income greater than 20,000 RMB (OR = 0.31, 95%CI: 0.15-0.64, P = 0.001) were independent associated with practices. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that knowledge positively correlated with attitude scores (r = 0.348, P < 0.001) and practice scores (r = 0.259, P < 0.001), and attitude and practice scores were also positively correlated (r = 0.563, P < 0.001). Structural equation modeling showed that knowledge predicted attitudes (β = 0.67, P < 0.001) and practices (β = 0.17, P = 0.017), while attitudes predicted practices (β = 0.58, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

General population had moderate knowledge, positive attitudes and average practices towards CAP and COVID-19.

Assessment of Knowledge and Attitudes Over Time in Postacute COVID-19 Environments: Protocol for an Epidemiological Study

BACKGROUND

Globally, COVID-19 is in transition from the acute pandemic phase into a postacute phase, and special attention should be paid at this time to COVID-19 control strategies. Understanding public knowledge and attitudes plays a pivotal role in controlling COVID-19's spread and provides information about the public's adherence to preventive and control measures.

OBJECTIVE

This study protocol describes the planning and management of a survey to investigate the persistent or changing trends in knowledge and attitudes regarding COVID-19, vaccination, and nonpharmaceutical preventive measures among COVID-19 cases' household contacts aged 18 years and older, after the acute phase of the pandemic in Catalonia and Navarre in Spain. The secondary objectives include investigating the rate of secondary transmission in households, taking into account the demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, and preventive measures toward COVID-19.

METHODS

A telephone questionnaire was designed to assess the changing trends in knowledge, preventive measures, and attitudes toward COVID-19 in 3 rounds (after identification as a household contact, 3 months later, and 6 months later). The questionnaire was developed following an extensive literature review and through discussions with a panel of experts who designed and assessed the validity of the questionnaire in terms of relevance, consistency, completeness, and clarity. The questionnaire consists of the following 7 sections: social and demographic characteristics (ie, gender, age, educational level, and workplace), comorbidities and risk factors (according to the recommendations from the COVID-19 vaccination strategy), epidemiological data (ie, exposure time, relationship with index cases, and frequency of use of nonpharmaceutical preventive measures), COVID-19 vaccination status (ie, the number and date of doses received), knowledge and attitudes toward COVID-19 (assessed using a 5-point Likert scale-totally agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and totally disagree), and sources of information (including traditional mass media, social media, and official sources).

RESULTS

A pilot study was performed in May 2022 to evaluate the questionnaire with 22 household contacts. Preliminary findings indicated that the questionnaire was feasible and acceptable in the general population. The average response time was 15 minutes, with greater variations in responses by older participants. After the pilot study, recruitment of participants began and is expected to be completed at the end of the year 2023, after which the final results will be available in 2024.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the low transmission levels of SARS-CoV-2 and the relaxation of containment measures, the implementation of the survey during the postacute phase will provide valuable insight to assist public health decision-making and control the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses, thereby attenuating the negative effects of COVID-19 at individual and population level.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/52114.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices about COVID-19 pandemic: a bibliometric analysis

Background

In order to avoid high rates of COVID-19 infection, one of the main tasks that must be performed is to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about the virus. In this sense, Health Education is an essential tool for dealing with the virus. The aim of health education is to educate individuals through educational, motivational, skill development, and awareness techniques, and an understanding of the main needs of KAP is essential for this. Many KAP studies were published during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the aim of the present study was to analyze these publications through a bibliometric study.

Methods

A bibliometric analysis of the publications on KAP and COVID-19 was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection database. The RStudio Bibliometrix and VOSviewer packages were utilized to analyze the scientific production, authors, citations, countries, publishers, journals, research areas, and keywords.

Results

Of the 1,129 articles published, 777 were included in the study. The year with the most publications and citations was 2021. Three authors were underlined (all from Ethiopia), due to the number of articles published, the number of citations, and the collaboration networks established. As for the countries, most of the publications came from Saudi Arabia, while China obtained the most citations. PLOS One and Frontiers in Public Health published the most articles on the subject. The most frequent keywords were knowledge, attitudes, practices, and COVID-19. At the same time, others were identified based on the population group analyzed.

Conclusion

This is the first bibliometric study on KAP and COVID-19. The significant number of publications identified on KAP and its relationship to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the span of only 3 years, indicates the increased interest in this area. The study provides relevant information to researchers who are approaching this subject for the first time. It is a useful tool that can stimulate new studies and collaborations between researchers from different countries, areas and approaches. At the methodological level, a step-by-step guide is provided for future authors who wish to perform a bibliometric analysis.

Key Lessons from COVID-19: A Narrative Review Describing Qatar's Multifactorial Approach in Executing a Vaccination Campaign

Widespread vaccination programs have been implemented in many countries to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic, with varying success and challenges. To better understand the successes and challenges of the global COVID-19 response in the face of emerging new variants and epidemiologic data, we discuss how Qatar engaged the healthcare sector, governmental bodies, and the populace to combat COVID-19, with a focus on the country's vaccination strategy. This narrative provides the history and timeline of the Qatar COVID-19 vaccination campaign; factors that helped the vaccination campaign and the transferable lessons learned are discussed. Details regarding how Qatar responded to challenges, such as vaccine hesitancy and mitigation of misinformation, are highlighted. Qatar was one of the first countries to procure the BNT162b2 (Comirnaty^®; Pfizer-BioNTech, Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA) and mRNA-1273 (Spikevax^®; Moderna, Cambridge, MA, USA) COVID-19 vaccines. A relatively high vaccination rate and low case mortality rate (0.14% as of 4 January 2023) was observed in Qatar compared with other countries (global case mortality rate, 1.02%). Learnings will be carried forward as a basis for addressing this evolving pandemic and any future national emergencies in Qatar.