Knowledge, attitude and response preparedness to COVID-19: An Egyptian tertiary public hospital client perspective

ABSTRACT

Introduction

On 14 February 2020, Egypt announced its first COVID-19 confirmed case. Accordingly, the country’s response included evacuation of Egyptian citizens from heavily infected countries, closure of educational facilities, and banning of all public meetings and gatherings. With rapid emerging of the pandemic, how individuals respond to advice on transmission prevention is as important as government actions, if not more important to protect themselves.

Aim

To assess knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 among a sample of the general public attending Kasr Alainy hospital in Cairo, Egypt.

Methodology

A cross sectional study that was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Cairo, Egypt over a period of 2 months in early 2020. Two hundred outpatient clients agreed to fill out the study questionnaire. Twenty-four of the total participants approved to be included in in-depth interviews regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

The median knowledge score was significantly higher among highly educated clients than their counterparts were (23 Vs 19, P = 0.002) and was higher among urban residents than their counterparts (21 Vs 18, P = 0.004).

Conclusion

Egyptians participating in this study had good knowledge and attitude about COVID-19, and using protective measures. This knowledge is mainly acquired through social media platforms and television. However, further focus is needed in certain aspects, including the delivery of messages regarding health-seeking behavior of people infected with SARS-COV-2.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• outpatient clients
• knowledge
• In-depth interview‌
• attitudes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the participants in the study, the workers in the hospital who facilitated their work greatly. The authors would also like to thank Dr Ranya Hegazy, for her help in the proofing and English writing enhancement of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical consideration

All procedures for data collection were treated with confidentiality according to Helsinki Declaration of biomedical ethics [30]. To guarantee the anonymity of the respondents, they were identified by the codes.

An informed consent was obtained from each client after proper orientation regarding the impact & the objectives of the study and the confidentiality of the collected data.

Your participation in every aspect of this study is completely voluntary. All of the information that you provide for the study will be kept completely confidential. We record your responses, but the questionnaire will not have your name on it, and your responses to our questions are identified only by a code, never by name. Although there are no direct benefits to you from participating in this survey, we hope that the survey will be considered a baseline assessment that will guide us in raising awareness towards corona virus, which is the most important step in combating the infection. The survey will take about {10-15} minutes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amira Aly Hegazy

Dr. Amira Aly Hegazy is Public Health lecturer in Kasr Alainy medical school, with a deep passion for public health and the importance of its various topics, including Epidemiology, Environmental health, Medical statistics, Research methods and demography, Healthcare management, Health services and Clinical nutrition.

Salma AbdelRehim Seddik

Dr. Salma AbdelRehim Seddik is Public Health lecturer in Kasr Alainy medical school, with a deep passion for public health and the importance of its various topics, including Epidemiology, Environmental health, Medical statistics, Research methods and demography, Healthcare management, Health services and Clinical nutrition.