Publication:

A descriptive cross-sectional study on the awareness level towards the COVID-19 among the internet users of Bangladesh

Background Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a pandemic worldwide is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and represents the causative agent of a potentially contagious disease that is of great global public health concern. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice towards the COVID-19 pandemic among the internet users of Bangladesh.

Methods A web-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a structured questionnaire implemented through google form and circulated online over distinctive social media from April 2020 to June 2020. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23.0 employing univariate, bivariate and multivariate techniques and also one-way ANOVA where applicable.

Results From the obtained data, 98.8% of the participants were aware of the COVID-19, among them 60.7% obtained the information from social media. The general transmission knowledge level score was found at 3.37±0.71. Overall knowledge level score on signs and symptoms and treatment options were found 2.8±0.05 and 5.17±1.44, respectively. This study demonstrated that a significant portion of the population (80.7%) is dissatisfied with the role of the government in combating COVID-19. One-way ANOVA reveals that women show more adherence with practicing the precautions required to refrain from COVID-19 which was highly significant (p value 0.066). The backward likelihood ratio analysis showed that education and sex have significant p value in case of treatment knowledge score and practice score, respectively.

Conclusions Although the perception towards the COVID-19 is encouraging among the populations who are using the internets, our study findings suggest that updated knowledge, safety guidelines and preventive measures must be provided by the concerned authorities to enhance the awareness and to reduce the spreadability of the COVID-19 outbreak.