Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 outbreak and preventive methods among non-medical undergraduates in a selected State University of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on the 11th of March 2020. Since this is a highly contagious virus, the spread of the disease depends on the level of public awareness. Therefore, assessing the awareness of this topic among non-medical undergraduates is vital. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 outbreak and preventive methods among non-medical students in a state University, Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 205 non-medical undergraduates in the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The data collection duration of the study was from October to November 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was used as a google form and the questionnaire was taken from the study conducted in Pakistan with the permission of the author. Questionnaire consisted of four section: socio-demographic data, knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19. Data were analyzed in descriptive statistics by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software. Knowledge scores were categorized as good (12-15), moderate (8- 11) and poor (0-7). Practice scores were categorized as good (28-36), moderate (19-27), poor (0-18). The majority of participants (53.2%) were females. The total mean scores COVID-19 knowledge regardless of faculty was 13.73(SD±1.19). There is a significant association between gender and knowledge. (p<0.001). Overall positive attitudes were high in females than males. The total mean score of COVID-19 practice related prevention is 30.28(SD±3.76). The majority of them had a good level of knowledge and positive attitude towards the COVID-19. Majority of the undergraduates had good level of Practice related to the prevention of the COVID-19. It‘s recommended to conduct health education programs regarding COVID-19 among non-medical undergraduates in order to increase their awareness on this topic.