JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

COVID-19 pandemic threats the health systems of many countries around the world. Several studies suggested that the pandemic affects not only physical health but also all aspects of society, including mental health. Multiple information has been released about the disease since the beginning of the outbreak. For that reason, it is important to investigate the level of knowledge, awareness, and the attitude that different populations had towards COVID-19 during the peak of the pandemic.

Objective:

This research aims to assess the knowledge, awareness, and attitude about COVID-19 of different populations in Central China during the critical period of the outbreak.

Methods:

A cross-sectional web-based survey was applied in Central China during February to March 2020 in three different population groups: medical workers, students, and other occupations. An online questionnaire was designed to collect information about four main areas: sociodemographic information, knowledge related to COVID-19, awareness, and attitude towards COVID-19. Counts and proportions were calculated per each question and McNemar’s test was used to compare the distribution among groups. The differences between the groups were considered statistically significant if the p-value was lower than 0.05

Results:

This study evaluated a total of 518 participants. Of them, 389 were students, 39 medical workers, and 90 other occupations. Most of the participants were female (n=278, 53.67%), lived in rural areas (n=263, 50.77%), and were single (n=433, 87.12%). The educational level of majority of the respondents corresponded to college and above (n=462, 89.19%). Most of the participants declared to know about COVID-19 by January, and most of them looked for information on social media (Sina Weibo, 84.36%), and WeChat and QQ groups (74.13%). Questions about COVID-19 knowledge were well known by the three groups with no significant differences observed. However, medical workers showed significant differences in the knowledge of professional questions. Medical workers and other occupations group stated that their level of concern was very high with 71.79% (n=28) and 52.22% (n=47) respectively. All three populations thought that lockdown policy had a serious impact on their life. Most of the respondents declared to have an overall positive attitude to the disease, showing a percentage of 92.03% (n=358) for students, 94.87% (n=37)for medical workers, and 92.22% (n=83) for other occupations group

Conclusions:

The participants of this study had an adequate knowledge about COVID-19 and a positive attitude towards the disease. However, most of them recognized to be highly concerned about the virus and declared that the lockdown had a serious influence on their lives.