Knowledge, attitude and practice pattern regarding use of masks, in an urban slum in West India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20215014Keywords:
COVID-19, Knowledge and attitude towards mask acceptance, Mask use, LockdownAbstract
Background: After almost a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, economies around the world are opening up. However, with newer, more virulent strains being reported across the globe, the efficacy of vaccines has also come into question, and regulatory authorities are emphasising once again, the importance of mask use and social distancing. The aim of the study was to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice towards wearing of masks during this pandemic.
Methods: This was a non-interventional, questionnaire based, cross sectional study conducted in urban slums in Mumbai, India. A validated questionnaire was administered to those who volunteered to be part of the study, during sero-survey in the slum area.
Results: A total of 1342 participants were included in the study. An overwhelming 1232 (91.8%) knew that masks should cover both nose and mouth. Almost 72% claimed to wear their face masks more than 50% of the time when outside their homes, while 27.5% used them only when in crowded places. Interestingly only 3% said they did not wear masks at all. 86% subjects were of the opinion that cloth masks should be washed daily, and 5% said it should be washed once every two days. There was a significant association with the knowledge regarding proper usage and cleaning of mask, and age, gender and occupation.
Conclusions: The knowledge and attitude towards wearing and care of masks reveals that there was a significant association between proper usage and cleaning of masks and age, occupation, literacy and income.
References
Chakraborty I, Maity P. COVID-19 outbreak: Migration, effects on society, global environment and prevention. Sci Total Environ. 2020;728:138882.
WHO. WHO SAGE Roadmap for Prioritizing uses of COVID-19 Vaccines in the context of limited supply, 2020. Available at:https://www.who.int/docs/source/immunization/sage/covid/sageprioritizationroadmapcovid19vaccines.pdf?Status=Temp&sfvrsn=bf227443. Accessed on 20 October 2021.
Bhartiya S, Nishant K, Singh T, Murugan S, Rajavel S, Wadhwani M. Knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 vaccination acceptance in West India. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2021;8(3):1-7.
WHO. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, 2019. Available at: https://www.who.int. Accessed on 20 October 2021.
Azlan AA, Hamzah MR, Sern TJ, Ayub SH, Mohamad E. Public knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in Malaysia. PLoS One. 2020;15(5):233668.
Dkhar SA, Quansar R, Saleem SM, Khan SMS. Knowledge, attitude, and practices related to COVID-19 pandemic among social media users in J&K, India. Indian J Public Health. 2020;64:205-10.
Geldsetzer P. Use of Rapid Online Surveys to Assess People's Perceptions During Infectious Disease Outbreaks: A Cross-sectional Survey on COVID-19. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(4):18790.
Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci. 2020;16(10):1745-52.
Domiati S, Itani M, Itani G. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of the Lebanese Community Toward COVID-19. Front Med. 2020;7:542.