Volume 5, Issue 10, October – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Knowledge and Practice on Covid-19 among

General Public
1 2
ELIZEBETH RANI. V BLESSY LITTLE CHRISTY.P
M.SC (Nursing), Reader, V.H.S – M.A. M.SC (Nursing), Assistant Professor, V.H.S – M.A.
Chidambaram College of Nursing, Chennai, TamilNadu, Chidambaram College of Nursing, Chennai, TamilNadu,
India. India.

Abstract:- COVID-19 is associate communicable disease congestion, headache, sore throat, diarrhoea, and loss of style
caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. or smell, rash on the skin, or discoloration of fingers or toes.
It's currently a virulent disease unfold moving several Adults, older individuals, and people with underlying co-
countries globally. The aim of this study is to assess the morbidities like chronic respiratory organ illness,
knowledge and practices of COVID-19 among general cardiovascular disease diabetes, and cancer are additional
public at the selected setting, Chennai. The main objective probably to develop serious malady. Promoting information
was to assess the knowledge and practice on COVID-19, and higher health-seeking behaviour among the general
correlate the knowledge with practice on COVID-19, and public is important to assess their current state of awareness
associate the knowledge and practice on COVID-19 with and apply towards reducing the known gaps in information.
the demographic variables among the public. A
Quantitative non-experimental analysis style was used to  Background of the Study
assess the knowledge and practice of COVID-19. Sixty Worldwide total cases crossed 38.2Million, recovered
individuals were chosen through the non-probability cases were 26.5Million, and therefore the deaths were
convenience sampling technique. The findings of the 1.09Million. Young adults represent associate progressively
analysis disclosed that the majority (40%) of the samples massive proportion of U.S. COVID-19 cases. the best human
had a high level of knowledge and 43.3% of them had a casualty reported from the USA with 109121 deaths. The
good practice, 33.3% of them had a moderate level of primary case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian nation was
knowledge and 30% of them had moderate practice, reported on January thirty, 2020. As of month, of May
whereas 26.7% of them had a low level of knowledge and seventeen, 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
26.7% of them had poor practice on COVID 19. Government of Asian nation has reported 90927 confirmed
cases from thirty-three states with 2872 deaths. Centres for
Keywords:- COVID-19, Knowledge, Practice, Pandemic, illness management associated interference (CDC) reports
General Public. national ensemble forecast indicates an unsure trend in new
COVID-19 cases reported over succeeding four weeks and
I. INTRODUCTION predicts that 160,000 to 380,000 new cases can probably be
reported throughout the week ending Gregorian calendar
“Emphasizing that whereas life is vital, resource is month thirty-one, 2020.
equally vital” a virulent disease is associate communicable
disease that's passing quickly from person to person in several  Need for the Study
components of the globe. Coronaviruses or the novel Despite rising in COVID-19 cases, Governments across
coronavirus could be a massive family of viruses that causes the globe have undertaken curfew to limit the general public
respiratory disorder to additional severe diseases that are movement additionally provided consistent messages through
termed because the Middle East metabolism Syndrome numerous media is in a very bid to slow the virus
(MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute metabolism Syndrome transmission. Supported the review of live and case reports
(SARS-CoV). The globe Health Organization declared as and up to this point statistics, the investigator found that
COVID-19 that emerged from Wuhan town, Hubei Province folk’s adherence towards preventive measures and awareness
of China in Dec 2019 has caused new panic across the globe. has begun to say no and still, there's a swift in apply and this
Worldwide active cases were 38,532,773; deaths rate is is often a desire of the hour to extend widespread adoption of
1,093,051and the recovered cases were 28,957,379. health care interventions. Hence the investigator felt the
necessity to assess knowledge and practice on COVID- 19
Coronavirus is that the speedy transmission from human among the public to provide intensive health promotion
to human-made the globe Health Organization (WHO) to awareness that fosters attitudes among individuals to
declare this because the international public health emergency acknowledge and apply these measures properly.
and referred to as it a worldwide pandemic. The period of
time is a pair of to ten days and therefore the commonest
symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and temporary
state, and therefore the least symptoms body pains, nasal

IJISRT20OCT611 www.ijisrt.com 1217

Volume 5, Issue 10, October – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
 Statement
A study to assess the knowledge and practice on The second section assessed participants' information of
COVID-19 among general public at the selected setting, COVID-19. This section includes twenty-five things in terms
Chennai. of modes of transmission, clinical symptoms, treatment,
risk teams, isolation, prevention, and management.
 Objective
1. To assess the knowledge and practice on COVID-19 The third section of the form assessed the respondents'
among the general public. practices. This section consisted of 20 statements related to
2. To correlate the knowledge and practice on COVID-19 practices .
among the general public.
3. To associate the knowledge and practice on COVID-19  Independent variables
with the demographic variables among the general public. Socio-demographic variables including age, gender,
instructional level, occupation, monthly financial gain, legal
 Assumption status, social unit size, dietary pattern, previous information
 The general public might have some information of on COVID-19, and sources of knowledge.
COVID nineteen.
 Publics have totally different assumptions concerning  Dependent variables
interference measures. Respondents were asked to retort to information things
 Information concerning COVID – 19 varies from a as either true or false or not sure. correct answers were
personality's perception. allotted a score of one and Incorrect or not sure responses got
a score of zero. The score for knowledge ranged from zero to
II. METHODOLOGY twenty-five. With scores indicating a high, moderate, and
low level of knowledge on COVID-19. Things were
The analysis approach was Quantitative-evaluative in evaluated for internal reliability; the constant was 0.70.
nature. The study was conducted among sixty general public.
The population of the study was the general public within the In the section on practices, respondents were asked to
people of 21- 71years & higher in Chennai. A non-probability retort “always, sometimes, never.” A score of three, two, and
convenient sampling technique was utilized to choose the one assigned accordingly. The full score ranged from zero to
samples. The demographic variable was collected employing twenty, with the scores indicating good practices, moderate
a structured form. The rating scale was applied to assess practice, and poor practice.
knowledge. A check list was applied to assess the practice.
Demography, knowledge & practice questionnaire was III. DATA ANALYSIS
collected via on-line employing a self-reported form, from
sixty participants through a Google type. A survey link was This study utilized primarily descriptive and inferential
sent to the respondents, via email and WhatsApp teams. statistics for information analysis. Descriptive analysis was
applied to tabulate the frequency and percentage of
The self-reported form was developed by the authors, in demographic variables. Pearson correlation was exercised to
line with the rules of the community of COVID-19, by the assess the relationship between knowledge and practice. A
guidance of World Health Organization. On the primary page Chi-square test was utilized to assess the knowledge and
of the web form, respondents were enlightened concerning practice with demographic variables. SPSS software was
the background and objectives of the study. Respondents utilized to analyze the data.
were enlightened that they were unengaged to withdraw at
any time, while not giving a reason, and every one info and  Ethical Concerns
opinions provided would be anonymous and confidential. Informed Consent was obtained from the
Respondents living in Chennai, aged twenty-one years to participants and also the confidentiality and privacy of
older, understood the content of the form and united to the samples were maintained throughout the study.
participate within the study and they were instructed to
complete the form. on-line consent was obtained before IV. RESULT
proceeding with the form.
The majority (50%) of the samples were between the
The form consisted of three primary sections. The first age group of 31- 40 years. Participants 60% were female and
primary section assessed socio-demographic characteristics 83.3% were married, 86.7% were graduates, 36.7% were
from respondents’ including age, gender, instructional level, employed in private jobs and 56.7% of the samples got
occupation, monthly financial gain, legal status, social Rs.20001 & above, 70% of the sample’s household size
unit size, dietary pattern, previous information on COVID-19, includes 3-5 people and 96.7% were non-vegetarians,
and sources of obtained info. whereas 76.6% of them had previous knowledge and out of
that 66.7% of them had obtained information through mass
media.

IJISRT20OCT611 www.ijisrt.com 1218

Volume 5, Issue 10, October – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
 Assessment Of Knowledge On Covid-19 educational level and marital status had influenced the
knowledge of COVID-19.

There was no statistically significant association

between knowledge with demographic variables like age,
gender, occupation, monthly financial gain, social unit size,
dietary pattern, previous information and sources of
knowledge.

There was a statistically significant association between

practice with age at p<0.01 level and former information at
p<0.001 level. It displayed that age and former information
had influenced the practice of COVID19. There was no
statistically significant association between practice with
Figure 1: Knowledge On Covid -19 demographic variables like gender, occupation, monthly
financial gain, social unit size, dietary pattern, and sources of
Figure one showed that majority (40%) of the samples knowledge.
had a high level of data, 33.3% of them had a moderate
level of data and 26.7% of them had an occasional level of V. DISCUSSION
data on COVID - 19.
COVID-19 is a rising communicable disease that has
 Assessment Of Practice On Covid-19 had a big threat to the public health. The absence of a
COVID-19 immunogen, preventive measures playing an
important role in reducing infection. This means the need of
public awareness for prevention of COVID19, by information
and day to day practices. Thus, this study was aimed to assess
the knowledge and practice of COVID-19.

 The findings of the study based on objectives were

mentioned

 The first objective was to assess the information and

observe on COVID19
Our finding indicates that 40% had a high
level of knowledge and 43.3% of the samples had a good
practice. The above finding supported by, Balvir Singh
Figure: 2 Practice On Covid-19 Tomar et al. conducted a study among the Indian community
was information, angle & observe towards COVID-19was
Figure two showed that Majority (43.3%) of the assessed. Among 7978 participants, the information, attitude,
samples had a good practice, 30% of them had moderate and observe score was eighty.64%, 97.33%, and 93.8%
practice and 26.7% of them had poor practice on COVID-19. consecutively (4). The bulk of the Indian population
incontestable preceded sensible information, positive angle,
TABLE: 1:- CORRELATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND and sensible observe concerning the COVID-19 pandemic (4).
PRACTICE ON COVID-19
We found that those who had good knowledge that
S.NO VARIABLES CORRELATION
influenced to keep them safety and well-practiced during
COEFFICIENT VALUE
COVID 19 pandemic. These results have come because of
1. Knowledge r = 0.451
their educational status (degree - 86.7%) and the age (31 –
2. Practice p = 0.01**S
40 yrs.). People might have known about the disease & its
* p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001 S - Significant NS - Not transmission and prevention through television, newspaper
Significant and social media.
There was a positive correlation between knowledge  The second objective was to correlate the knowledge and
and practice, r = 0. 451 at the level of 0.01. practice on COVID19
The correlation between knowledge and practice
 Association Of The Knowledge And Practice On Covid- exposed that there was a positive correlational
19 With The Demographic Variables: statistic existing between knowledge and practice r = 0.451 at
The study findings showed that there was a statistically p<0.01 level of significance. It showed that the participants
significant association between knowledge with education high level of knowledge had influenced in sensible and safe
and marital status at p<0.001 level. It exposed that practices on COVID-19 pandemic.

IJISRT20OCT611 www.ijisrt.com 1219

Volume 5, Issue 10, October – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
The above study findings have supported by, Balvir REFERENCES
Singh Tomar et al. conducted a study among the Indian
community wherever information, angle & observe assessed [1]. Mohammed K. Al-Hanawi, Khadijah Angawi and Noor
towards COVID-19. There was a positive correlation Alshareef et al. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice
between knowledge-attitude, knowledge-practice, and angle Toward COVID-19 Among the Public in the Kingdom of
observe with the strongest relation known between observe Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study. Front Public
and angle. Categorical by Pearson’s correlation, the Health. 2020; 8: 217. Published online 2020 May
information score correlation with angle (r=0.023: p<0.01) 27. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00217.
and observe (r=0.019: p<0.01). Moreover, the observe score [2]. Rajib Acharya1, Mukta Gundi1, Thoai D. Ngo2,
was completely correlate with angle (r=0.361: p=0.03 (4). Neelanjana Pandey1, Sangram K. Patel1, Jessie
Pinchoff2, Shilpi Rampal1, Niranjan Saggurti1,3, K.G.
 The third objective was to associate the knowledge and Santhya1,3, Corinne White2, A.J.F. Zavier1. COVID-19-
practice with the demographic variables. related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among
The study findings showed that there was a statistically adolescents and young people in Bihar and Uttar
significant association between knowledge with education Pradesh, India1 Study Description April 23, 2020.
and marital status at p<0.001 level. It displayed that [3]. Sonam Maheshwari1, Puneet Kumar Gupta2, Richa
educational level and marital status had influenced the Sinha1, Pravesh Rawat. Knowledge, attitude, and practice
information of COVID-19. There was a significant towards coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among
association between practice with age at p<0.01 level and medical students: A cross-sectional study. Journal of
previous knowledge at p<0.001 level. It unconcealed that age acute disease. Year : 2020 | Volume : 9 | Issue : 3
and former information had influenced the knowledge of | Page : 100-104.
COVID-19. [4]. Balvir Singh Tomar, Pratima Singh, Supriya Suman,
Preeti Raj, Deepak Nathiya, Sandeep Tripathi, Dushyant
There was no statistically significant association Singh Chauhan. Indian community's Knowledge,
between knowledge with demographic variables like age, Attitude & Practice towards COVID-19. medRX iv
gender, occupation, monthly financial gain, social unit size, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.05.20092122.
dietary pattern, previous information and sources of [5]. Adela Ngwewondo et al. Knowledge, attitudes, practices
knowledge. There was no statistically significant association of/towards COVID 19 preventive measures and
between practice with demographic variables like gender, symptoms: A cross-sectional study during the
occupation, monthly financial gain, social unit size, dietary exponential rise of the outbreak in Cameroon. PLOS
pattern, and sources of knowledge. Neglected Tropical Diseases. September 4, 2020
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008700
 Limitations
There were no limitations round-faced by the
investigator throughout the study.

VI. CONCLUSION

This study was used to investigate the knowledge and

practice of the COVID-19 outbreak, among the general
population of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Our findings suggested
that 40% of the samples had good knowledge and 43.3% of
them had good practices toward COVID-19. Around 60% of
the respondents were unaware about the diseases.

Knowledge of the disease is considered the first

stepping stone to come out from the diseases. Because
Knowing the causes, transmission and sources of disease
increases the awareness of the spread of communicable
diseases, and of the preventive measures to slow down the
transmission. So, we are pleased to suggest that the health
education to be given by effectively using of social medias,
newspaper and distributing pamphlets.

IJISRT20OCT611 www.ijisrt.com 1220