Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

A nationwide study on the knowledge, awareness, and practices towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

Yaser M Alahmadi , Sultan SA Thagfan

Department of Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taibah University, Almadinah Almunawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

For correspondence:- Yaser Alahmadi Email: yahmadi@taibahu.edu.sa

Accepted: 18 December 2020 Published: 31 January 2021

Citation: Alahmadi YM, Thagfan SS. A nationwide study on the knowledge, awareness, and practices towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(1):161-167 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i1.23

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate public knowledge, awareness and practice regarding COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, with a 16-item self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected using social media as the platform a day after the lockdown commenced in Saudi Arabia and data collection lasted from March 25 to April 25, 2020. Chi-square test was performed to determine the association between the variables.

Results: The results showed that 96 % (n = 1505) of adults were aware of the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and 57.9 % (n = 908) correctly identified that a stuffy nose and sneezing were less common in persons infected with the virus. A majority (95.4 %, n = 1495) agreed that there was no established therapeutic treatment for COVID-19. Further, 91.7 % (n = 1437) agreed that the virus could spread via respiratory droplets and only 46.2 % (n = 724) acknowledged that wearing face mask helped prevent transmission. The results also showed that 83.2 % (n = 1299) of the participants thought that visiting crowded places increased the likelihood of transmission.

Conclusion: The findings of this study reveal that adults in Saudi Arabia are cognizant of COVID-19 and maintained good attitudes and practices regarding it. Furthermore, health education programs aimed at improving awareness of the disease and appropriate control measures will be beneficial in curbing the virus pandemic.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia, Coronavirus, Pandemic, COVID-19, Flu, Symptoms