Previously submitted to: JMIR Formative Research (no longer under consideration since Dec 16, 2020)
Date Submitted: Jun 28, 2020
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards COVID-19 among Malaysian Older Adults during the Pandemic
ABSTRACT
Background:
Due to the factor of age and pre-existing medication conditions, older persons pose a higher risk of COVID-19 infection and experience more severe complication compared to others. Adherence preventive measures become one of the best ways in fighting COVID-19, which largely influenced by knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP).
Objective:
This study aims to determine level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Malaysian older persons.
Methods:
An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 501 Malaysian older persons from 18th to 21st June 2020. The KAP instrument consisted of demographics details, knowledge (14 items), attitudes (3 items) and practices (2 items), adapted from previous study.
Results:
Results of this study showed participants had an overall correct rate of 91.3%, indicating a good knowledge level. Participants showed positive attitudes towards social distancing (98.6%), compliance to health authorities’ precautions (99.0%) and successful control (84.6%) of spreading of COVID-19 in Malaysia. The participants also taking preventive measures by refraining themselves from visiting crowded place (88.2%) and wore mask when leaving home (97.4%). Findings from this study showed participants’ high knowledge level of COVID-19 translated into good and safe preventive measures, during the recovery MCO in Malaysia.
Conclusions:
Continuous education and outreach from health authorities are essential to improve knowledge of COVID-19 and promote the newly adapted cultural norms, especially among older persons.
Citation
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