Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices about COVID-19 in residents of the Carlos Núñez neighborhood, Managua-Nicaragua, 2020

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge in the public health area. With the objective of evaluating knowledge, attitudes and practices, a descriptive cross-sectional KAP study was carried out in residents of Barrio Carlos Núñez, Managua, August-September 2020, using a structured survey, including 63 people. Regarding the level of knowledge, 60,3% obtained a good score, 34,9% fair and 4,8% bad. In relation to attitudes, 84,1% have an adequate attitude and 15,9% have an inappropriate attitude. Regarding the level of practices, it was found that 28,6% had good practices, 47,6% regular and 23,8% bad, however, gaps were found in knowledge about the etiology, transmission mechanism and use of home remedies as a treatment. Level of education and married marital status were associated with the level of knowledge with a value of p = 0,02. Self-medication and belief in myths regarding home remedies for disease prevention stand out as inappropriate practices. The factor associated with the practices was the knowledge score with a statistically significant association with a value of p = 0,007. The origin of the population under study was relate to the level of attitudes where 70% of the subjects who have an inappropriate attitude are from the urban area and 30% are from the rural area. The sources of information were not associated with the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices found.

Keywords: Attitudes, Knowledge, COVID-19, Practices, Prevention.