Publication:

Knowledge attitude and practices regarding mask usage during COVID-19 pandemic in general population of India: a qualitative study

Background Facemasks are recommended to control the COVID-19 pandemic transmission. This study was conducted with a purpose to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices among general population regarding the usage of facemask during COVID-19 pandemic to limit the spread of the corona virus disease.

Methods A cross sectional study was conducted through Google forms. Questionnaire consisted of 7, 3 and 5 questions on knowledge, attitude and practices respectively. Questionnaire was shared on social media. Score of 1 was assigned to correct response and score of 0 for incorrect response, thus making a maximum score of 7 for a subject. Accordingly, score was 5 had good and excellent knowledge respectively.

Results Out of total 500 participants, we had 242 (48.4%) males and 258 (51.6%) females. The age of participants ranged from 20 to 60 years. Majority of participants (25.2%) were from Kerala State. Almost 97.6% reported that it was necessary to wear mask in current situation. The overall mean knowledge score was 5. The mean knowledge score was higher among females (5.07%) as compared to males (4.93%) and the difference was statistically significant. When they were asked if they know the correct steps of wearing a mask, almost 82.5% reported “yes” but while asking for coverage of mask on face only 75% were aware of it correctly.

Conclusions The overall knowledge of our study population was good. The knowledge was excellent for the age group of 20–30 and post-graduates.