Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward Covid-19 among the Mongolian general population during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic: a nationwide, population-based, randomised, cross-sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31117/neuroscirn.v4i3Suppl.102Keywords:
Covid-19, KAP, nationwide population-based, cross-sectional, MongoliaAbstract
Improving knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 is critical to control the infection rate of the pandemic successfully. Mongolia declared a state of emergency in January 2020 but no study was performed on public adherence to centralised measures and awareness of the pandemic in Mongolia. This study aimed to determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 in the general population, especially regarding the extent to which KAP has contributed to the control measures before local COVID-19 outbreaks. The study was conducted between July and October 2020, when the pandemic was limited to internationally imported cases. We adapted a structured KAP questionnaire that was used to survey residents of Wuhan, China, during the initial outbreak of the pandemic. Participants aged between 13 and 65 years (n=1324, mean age=39.79±14.8), 73.2% were women, and 27.2% held a bachelor's degree or above. The results suggested that 81.9% of the participants had sufficient knowledge about the transmission, symptoms, treatment, and prevention of the disease. In the multiple linear regression, an increase in age and education contributed positively to a high knowledge score (p<0.05, p<0.001, respectively). The majority of the participants (96.2% - 96.5%) had compliance with the measures to control COVID-19 spread with good practices (82.4% - 93.1%) toward COVID-19 prevention. In the binary logistic regression analyses, the COVID-19 knowledge score was associated with a higher likelihood of optimistic attitudes and preventive practices (OR: 0.617 - 0.845). In conclusion, despite the sufficient knowledge toward the COVID-19 pandemic among the general population of Mongolia, a relatively low level of optimistic attitudes and appropriate practices compared to other populations may negatively impact preventing the outbreak in the society. Health education programs aimed at improving COVID-19 knowledge will be helpful to minimise local epidemic growth and the current government measures such as lockdowns, quarantines, and travel restrictions.
References
Azlan, A. A., Hamzah, M. R., Sern, T. J., Ayub, S. H., & Mohamad, E. (2020). Public knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in Malaysia. PLoS One, 15(5), e0233668. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233668
Bener, A., & Al-Khal, A. (2004). Knowledge, attitude and practice towards SARS. Journal of The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 124(4), 167–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/146642400412400408
Cobey, K. D., Stulp, G., Laan, F., Buunk, A. P., & Pollet, T. V. (2013). Sex differences in risk taking behavior among dutch cyclists. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(2), 350–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491301100206
Dardas, L. A., Khalaf, I., Nabolsi, M., Nassar, O., & Halasa, S. (2020). Developing an Understanding of Adolescents' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19. The Journal of School Nursing, 36(6), 430-441. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059840520957069
Erkhembayar, R., Dickinson, E., Badarch, D., Narula, I., Warburton, D., Thomas, G. N., Ochir, C., & Manaseki-Holland, S. (2020). Early policy actions and emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mongolia: experiences and challenges. The Lancet Global Health, 8(9), e1234–e1241. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30295-3
Ferdous, M. Z., Islam, M. S., Sikder, M. T., Mosaddek, A. S. M., Zegarra-Valdivia, J. A., & Gozal, D. (2020). Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh: An onlinebased cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 15(10 October), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239254
Lee, M., Kang, B. A., & You, M. (2021). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in South Korea. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 295. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10285-y
Ministry of Health Mongolia. (2020). Covid-19 report. https://covid19.mohs.mn/p/2020-оны-10-дугаар-сарын-18-өдрийн-нөхцөл-байдлын-мэдээ/927/
Munster, V. J., Koopmans, M., van Doremalen, N., van Riel, D., & de Wit, E. (2020). A Novel Coronavirus Emerging in China — Key Questions for Impact Assessment. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(8), 692–694. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp2000929
Ngwewondo, A., Nkengazong, L., Ambe, L. A., Ebogo, J. T., Mba, F. M., Goni, H. O., Nyunaï, N., Ngonde, M. C., & Oyono, J. L. E. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, practices of/towards COVID 19 preventive measures and symptoms: A cross-sectional study during the exponential rise of the outbreak in Cameroon. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 14(9), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008700
Qutob, N., & Awartani, F. (2021). Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among Palestinians during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey. PLoS ONE, 16(1 January), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244925
Rias, Y. A., Rosyad, Y. S., Chipojola, R., Wiratama, B. S., Safitri, C. I., Weng, S. F., . . . Tsai, H. T. (2020). Effects of Spirituality, Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices toward Anxiety Regarding COVID-19 among the General Population in INDONESIA: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9123798
Taber, K. S. (2018). The Use of Cronbach's Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1273–1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9602-2
Tachfouti, N., Slama, K., Berraho, M., & Nejjari, C. (2012). The impact of knowledge and attitudes on adherence to tuberculosis treatment: A case-control study in a moroccan region. Pan African Medical Journal, 12(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2012.12.52.1374
Van Nhu, H., Tuyet-Hanh, T. T., Van, N. T. A., Linh, T. N. Q., & Tien, T. Q. (2020). Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of the Vietnamese as Key Factors in Controlling COVID-19. Journal of Community Health, 45(6), 1263-1269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00919-4
WHO. (2020a). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Update and Weekly Operational Update. https://covid19.who.int
WHO. (2020b). Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). 2019-NCoV outbreak Is an Emergency of International Concern] Switzerland. https://www.who.int/news/item/30-01-2020-statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)
Woods, S. P., Fazeli, P. L., Matchanova, A., Vance, D. E., Medina, L. D., & Morgan, E. E. (2020). Dementia knowledge is low in adults with HIV disease. International Psychogeriatrics, 32(3), 415-416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S104161021900139X
Yue, S., Zhang, J., Cao, M., & Chen, B. (2021). Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of COVID-19 Among Urban and Rural Residents in China: A Cross-sectional Study. Journal of Community Health, 46(2), 286-291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00877-x
Zhong, B. L., Luo, W., Li, H. M., Zhang, Q. Q., Liu, X. G., Li, W. T., & Li, Y. (2020). Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: A quick online cross-sectional survey. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 16(10), 1745–1752. https://doi.org/10.7150/ijbs.45221
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Enkhnaran Tumurbaatar, Enkhjin Bat-Erdene, Otgontuya Duurenjargal, Myagmartseren Erbat, Tsolmontuya Amartuvshin, Myagmartseren Dashtseren, Gantsetseg Tumur-Ochir, Damdindorj Boldbaatar, Oka Takakazu, Battuvshin Lkhagvasuren, Tsolmon Jadamba

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The observations and associated materials published or posted by NeurosciRN are licensed by the authors for use and distribution in accord with the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY-NC 4.0 international, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.