Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 among the public in three Gulf countries - a cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 among residents/citizens of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey on 3,920 citizens/residents from three Gulf-countries (KSA, UAE, and Kuwait) was conducted between June 15 and August 25, 2020. The survey instrument consisted of demographic characteristics, 13 items on knowledge, 4 items on attitudes, and 7 items on practice towards prevention and control of COVID-19. The Survey link was constructed to be available in Arabic and English. Descriptive statistics of frequency distribution and percentages were calculated, and non-parametric tests were applied to compare the mean knowledge, attitude, and practice scores among different countries.

RESULTS

This study included participants from KSA (2,938, 74.9%), UAE (403, 10.3%), and Kuwait (579, 14.8%). The study subjects from KSA, UAE, and Kuwait showed significant differences in the mean knowledge (10.13, 10.52, and 9.19, p<0.001), attitude (2.84, 3.12, and 5.98, p<0.001), and practice (6.11, 5.98 and 5.38, p<0.001) scores towards COVID-19. In addition, Kuwaiti citizens and residents showed significantly lower knowledge, attitude, and practice scores toward COVID-19 than UAE and KSA participants. Participants from Kuwait showed significantly lower knowledge, attitude, and practice scores than the UAE and KSA. However, in general (38.2%), the study participants were optimistic about controlling Coronavirus. Nearly 48.6% started to take an immune-boosting diet to protect themselves from the Coronavirus.

CONCLUSIONS

Study participants from KSA, UAE, and Kuwait demonstrated adequate knowledge, positive attitude, and acceptable practices towards COVID-19 control. Electronic and social media should be effectively utilized to spread awareness of COVID-19 among the public.