The Association of Knowledge, Perception and Attitude of COVID-19 with the Psychological Status of the Public in Saudi Arabia

Authors

  • Hayam Ibrahim Asfour Umm Al-Qura University
  • Nahla Hariri
  • Nahla Abdul-Gadir Tayyib Umm Al-Qura University
  • Fatmah Jabr Alsolami
  • Grace Lindsay

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of knowledge, perception, and attitude of COVID- 19 with the psychological distress status of the public in Saudi Arabia.

Methodology:  A cross-sectional study was performed among 429 participants using an online survey after approval from Umm Al-Qura University in March 2020.  Data collection took three months during COVID- 19 outbreak (May-July 2020). An online survey was composed of items related to knowledge, perception, attitude, and the population's psychological status during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Association tests were used at a significance level of < 0.05 and a 95% confidence interval.

Results: Nearly 80% of the participants had variable degrees of psychological distress. There were significant associations of perception (fear of being infected with COVID-19, (p < 0.05), fear of being in contact with patients with COVID-19 (p < 0.05), and fear of inability to continue their usual activities/work (p < 0.05), changes in social habits (p < 0.05), and following the precautional measures to prevent acquiring COVID-19 infection (p < 0.05) with psychological status. At the same time, the association of Knowledge regarding COVID-19 with psychological level was not statistically significant (p = 0.221).

Conclusion: Most of the participants had variable degrees of psychological distress. There were significant associations of most of the elements of perception and attitudes of the public regarding COVID-19 with their psychological distress. The public should implement psychological support programs during the pandemic to help them overcome COVID-19-related psychological distress.  

Keywords: Attitude, COVID-19, Knowledge, Perception, Psychological Status, Public

Author Biographies

Nahla Abdul-Gadir Tayyib, Umm Al-Qura University

 

 

Grace Lindsay

 

 

Downloads

Published

04-10-2022

How to Cite

1.
Asfour HI, Hariri N, Tayyib NA-G, Alsolami FJ, Lindsay G. The Association of Knowledge, Perception and Attitude of COVID-19 with the Psychological Status of the Public in Saudi Arabia. J Liaq Uni Med Health Sci [Internet]. 2022 Oct. 4 [cited 2024 Nov. 15];21(03):202-8. Available from: http://121.52.154.205/index.php/jlumhs/article/view/709

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 03 (2022): Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Submission of a manuscript to the journal implies that all authors have read and agreed to the content of the undertaking form or the Terms and Conditions.

When an article is accepted for publication, the author(s) retain the copyright and are required to grant the publisher the right of first publication and other non-exclusive publishing rights to JLUMHS.

Articles published in the Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & health sciences are open access articles under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial - Share Alike 4.0 License. This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium; provided the original work is properly cited and initial publication in this journal. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. In addition to that users are allowed to remix, tweak and build upon the work non-commercially as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Or, in certain cases it can be stated that all articles and content there in are published under creative commons license unless stated otherwise.