Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitudes Relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Different Populations in Central China: Cross-Sectional Survey

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the health systems of many countries worldwide. Several studies have suggested that the pandemic affects not only physical health but also all aspects of society. A lot of information has been reported about the disease since the beginning of the outbreak. For that reason, it is essential to investigate the attitudes and level of knowledge and awareness that different populations had regarding COVID-19 during the critical period of the outbreak. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of and attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic among different populations in Central China during the critical period of the outbreak. METHODS: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in Central China from February to March 2020. The study participants included three different populations: medical workers, students, and those with other occupations. In this study, a questionnaire was designed to collect information on the following four aspects: sociodemographic information, knowledge related to COVID-19, awareness of COVID-19, and attitude toward COVID-19. The chi-square test and Fisher test were used for comparison among groups. The level of significance was set at P<.05. RESULTS: This study enrolled a total of 508 participants. Among them, there were 380 students (74.8%), 39 medical workers (7.7%), and 89 people with other occupations (17.5%). Most of the participants were female (n=272, 53.5%), lived in rural areas (n=258, 50.8%), and were single (n=423, 86.9%). The majority of the respondents had attended college (n=454, 89.4%). Most of the participants said they had heard about COVID-19 by January, and most of them looked for information on social media (Sina Weibo, 84.7%), and WeChat and QQ groups (74.2%). The participants showed an adequate level of knowledge about COVID-19 with no significant differences among the groups. However, medical workers demonstrated a slightly advanced knowledge in their responses to professional questions such as the potential susceptible population, possible host, treatment of COVID-19, and disease category. A higher proportion of medical workers (71.8%) and those in the other occupations group (52.8%) were highly concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 43% of the participants stated that the lockdown of their village/city had a significant impact on their lives. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents had an overall optimistic attitude toward the control of the disease (92.1% of students [n=350], 94.9% of medical workers [n=37], and 92.3% of those in other occupations [n=83]). CONCLUSIONS: All three groups reported an adequate background knowledge about COVID-19 but medical workers showed a slightly advanced knowledge in their responses to professional questions. Most of the participants were highly concerned about COVID-19 during the critical period of the outbreak. The majority of respondents declared that the village/city lockdown policy had a significant impact on their daily life but most of them held an optimistic attitude toward the control of COVID-19.