General public Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding COVID-19: a Cross-Sectional study in Himachal Pradesh
Background: COVID-19 has caused around a million deaths throughout the world and despite the prompt lockdown and rigorous efforts from the government and health authorities, the case numbers in India were still staggering. To explore this furthermore, our study was formulated and aimed to evaluate the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding COVID-19 among General Population of Himachal Pradesh. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional survey of residents of the state of Himachal Pradesh was carried out between March 2021 and May 2021 using Google forms. Until 400 replies were gathered, the questionnaire was distributed among state citizens in both rural and urban areas via email and social media sites such Whatsapp groups, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. We collected data on their socio-demographic traits and Knowledge, Attitude and Practices regarding COVID-19. Epi info v7 software was used to evaluate the data using the necessary statistical tests. Results: A total of 400 respondents including 150(37.5%) were from urban area and 250(62.5%) were from rural area were participated in the study. Among the participants of the majority 268(67.0%) were males, 182(45.5%) were between 18-30 years, 152(38.0%) were Graduate, 254 (63.5%) were employee, 247(61.75%) were married and 383 (95.75%) were Hindu. In the present study 121 (30.25%) study participants had very good (24-30 marks) awareness regarding COVID-19, 208 (52.0%) had good (18-23 marks), 49 (12.25%) had fair (12-17 marks) and 22(5.5%) had poor (<12 marks) awareness regarding COVID-19. Conclusion: According to survey findings, the general public had either satisfactory knowledge Attitude and Practices Regarding COVID-19. It is evident from our study that better knowledge leads to a positive attitude and in turn reflects on better practice. Our study also revealed how education can be an effective tool in awareness and timely adaptation which might help health authorities to formulate plans based on the areas of improvement.