Abstract

ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR OF EMERGING NOVEL COVID-19 DISEASE KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Khalid Abd Allah Gismallah*, Khattab Mohammed Aboudi Ahmed, Mai Ahmed Mohamed Elhassan, Moiez Mohammed Aboudi Ahmed, Eihab Abdel Rahim Dawi Ahmed, Elamin Osman Mohamed Abualas, Mayada Bastawi Ahmed Bastawi, Essraa Yousif Mekkawi Khojali, Ahmed Emadeldin Osman Mohammed Salih and Ahmed Youssef Abouelyazid

ABSTRACT

Background: The emerging COVID-19 is a devastating life-threatening disease, which is characterized by high morbidity. More than 40 million people have been affected globally with case fatality rate ranging between 5 – 10%. Attitude and behavior play a major role in preventing the emerging and re-emerging diseases. Our study aimed at assessing attitude and behavior of participants towards COVID-19. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional community-based study. It was carried out in Khartoum States (Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman localities). A total of 1200 participants were randomly interviewed face-to-face using close ended questionnaire. A multistage cluster sampling technique was applied. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Smart PLS were used. Logistic regression, factor analysis and tree analysis were performed. Results: Negative attitude was reported in greater that half of participants [(52.7%, n= 632,], whilst positive attitude was noted in [(47.3%, n= 568, ]. Regarding behavior, more than half of the participants [(55.3%, n= 663, ] had poor behavior, whereas the remaining [(44.7%, n= 537, ] had good behavior. Factor analysis revealed that, three factors extracted which explain 56% of change occurring attitude towards COVID-19 of the surveyed participants they were recorded into; misconceptions about covid19, infodemics of COVID19, and negative stereotyping. The spectrum of behavior was noted in; response to isolation strategy, anticipated stigma, and enacted stigma (61%). Logistic regression showed that, monthly income between 2000-2999 SDG was 2.25 times more

Keywords: COVID 19, Attitude, Behavior, COVID-19.