Page 108 - IJPS-7-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and COVID-19 in Lebanon

Table 4b. Adjusted odds ratios of knowledge, attitudes, and Our study found an association between good practice
practices toward COVID‑19 from multivariable analyses, during the COVID-19 pandemic and higher knowledge and
females fear levels. This result is consistent with a recent analysis that

Knowledge Attitudes Practice 1 found that knowledge and attitude are strongly associated
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 with better practice (Wake, 2020). Participants with high
fear scores had a more acceptable attitude toward COVID-
Independent variables 19, in line with findings in Saudi Arabia (Al-Hanawi et al.,
Knowledge score -- 1.04 1.17*** 2020). The acceptable attitude toward COVID-19 among
Attitude score -- -- 1.24* individuals who exhibit anxiety and panic can be explained
Having a family member working in the medical field by their complete adherence to government actions and
Yes (no) 1.49 1.49 0.84 stringent measures against COVID-19, including lockdowns,
Indirect contact with a COVID-19 patient national curfew, and closure of schools, universities, praying
Yes (no) 0.96 0.87 0.61 places, and other public spaces. Other studies conducted
Do not know (no) 0.36* 0.69 0.67 among the general population and health care workers also
support these kinds of associations (Abdelhafiz et al., 2020;
Having a family member who has been infected with COVID-19
Bekele et al., 2020; Clements, 2020; Hossain et al., 2020;
Yes (no) 0.61 0.88 1.79+ Karim et al., 2020; Roy et al., 2020; Zhong et al., 2020).
Do not know (no) 1.00 0.49 1.06 Our findings showed that spending more time on
Tested with COVID-19 (no) 0.92 1.04 0.58 COVID-19 information and having higher knowledge and
Fear of COVID-19 score 1.01 1.03 1.09** attitude scores were associated with good practice during the
Time spent on COVID-19 information/day COVID-19 pandemic, similar to other studies (Clements,
30+min (< 30) 1.17 1.53 2.25** 2020; Zhong et al., 2020). Improving knowledge through
Covariates raising awareness could have a positive effect on addressing
Age 0.97 0.97 1.03 factors associated with disease transmission. Thus, increased
Urban (rural) 0.66 0.66 1.15 knowledge about COVID-19 favors the application of the
Currently married (no) 1.53 1.02 0.52+ required preventive measures needed to halt and regulate
virus transmission (Aravindhan et al., 2021).
College education (no) 3.87** 2.02 2.60+
Currently employed (no) 0.91 1.08 1.20 In this study, knowledge, attitude, or practice did not
Household crowding index 0.44** 0.94 1.26 significantly differ among males and females. Nevertheless,
knowledge affected practice among females but not among
Muslim (Christian) 0.60 1.36 1.04 males, although the attitude score was associated with higher
Other religions (Christian) 0.56 1.04 1.05 practice scores in both groups. Except for a Lebanese study,
Anxiety score 0.88+ 0.94 1.08 where male youth perceived the risk of COVID-19 infection
df 16 17 18 to be much higher and exhibited more appropriate COVID-
Wald Chi-square 11.04 27.73 3.57 19 practices than female participants (Sakr et al., 2021), the
N 323 323 323 previous studies reported conflicting data, with males often
showing less knowledge, worse attitudes, and less cautious
Note: The category in the parentheses is the reference group.
Knowledge dichotomized variable: Low (values less than 17.00) behaviors than females (Zhong et al., 2020, Haque et al., 2020,
versus high knowledge (values greater than or equal to 17.01). Maheshwari et al., 2020). Furthermore, this study is the first to
Attitude dichotomized variable: Fearful (values less than 17.00) versus show that, even if knowledgeable, men would not have a better
acceptable attitude (values greater than or equal to 17.01). Practice practice, contrary to women. The appropriate practice of males
dichotomized variable: Flawed (values less than 104.00) versus good
practice (values greater than or equal to 104.01). +P<0.1, *P<0.05, during COVID-19 was related to age, profession, attitude, and
**P<0.01, ***P<0.001 anxiety, while it was associated with knowledge and education
in females. According to a German study among 3245
because of these traditions (Hassan et al., 2021). This participants, women could use social media and information
result deserves more thorough research since it shows platforms more frequently than men and might make more
the association between religious practices and beliefs efforts to educate themselves about COVID-19 (Lemenager
and different elements of health, including the capacity et al., 2021), which could partially explain our result. Risk-
to manage diseases, but is contradictory to the acceptable taking behaviors, known to be higher among males, could also
attitude shown in challenging medical conditions (Albers explain this worthwhile finding, but more research would be
et al., 2010, Kowalczyk et al., 2020). necessary to understand its underlying reasons.

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2021) 102 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v7i2.342