Assessment of the awareness and perception of Ismailia City residents about COVID-19 infection

Abstract

Background: COVID-19, resulting from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is a significant public health calamity posing significant medical, social, economic, and political challenges in recent decades.
Objectives: To assess COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and preventive practices among Ismailia residents, in addition to estimate the occurrence of COVID -19 social stigmatization.
Participants and methods: This analytic cross section research has been performed on 412 Ismailia residents; their age ≥ 18 years with access to the internet. An online self-explanatory questionnaire was distributed through WhatsApp groups and social media. This research has been performed between October 2022 and March 2023.
Results: About half of the sample had a fair level of knowledge regarding COVID-19. More than 72% of the sample had negative attitude regarding COVID-19. Almost all of the participants have poor preventive practices against COVID-19. Meanwhile, there was a low level of stigma among 68% of participants. It was found that good knowledge was significantly associated with female gender and higher socioeconomic status. Positive attitude was significantly associated with higher age and male gender. Participants with intermediate to good practice was significantly associated with female gender. High level of stigma was significantly related to male gender and low socioeconomic status.
Conclusion: Ismailia residents had a proper knowledge of COVID-19 infection but had a negative attitude and poor preventive practices against it. Stigma was mild in more than two thirds of participants.