Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Central Area of Iran: A Population-Based Study

Background: The spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed high threats on global health, life and work style, and social and economic development. The current study aimed to extract knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to COVID-19 among the general population in the central area of Iran. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Arak City between April and May 2020. Stratified random sampling was applied to select the study participants. Phone interview was applied to collect the data. Data were collected using a questionnaire that was constructed and validated in this study. The questionnaire included demographic variables and items about knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted in STATA software. Results: In total, 544 participants completed the questionnaire; 76% of the participants accounted COVID-19 as a high threat 1 month from the onset of COVID-19. From the maximum attainable scores of 1, 6, and 6, for COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices, means of 0.77 (0.13), 4.97 (0.63), and 5.35 (0.70) were obtained, respectively. Females had a higher practice score (5.4 +/- 0.6). The participants with a family history of heart and respiratory diseases had significantly higher attitude and practice scores. SMS from the Ministry of Health had a significant impact on knowledge, attitude, and practice scores (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Higher attention should be given to increase the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of men and the housewife group. COVID-19 preventive messaging from the Ministry of Health was among the most influential methods of increasing knowledge that attracted public attention.