Behaviors and Attitude towards COVID19 Disease among the Saudi Population Based on Sociodemographic characters

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the attitude and associated sociodemographic characteristics of KSA residents toward COVID-19 during the peak of the pandemic. Methods: A descriptive cross-section study was conducted during the lockdown period among 465 Saudi Arabia residentsenrolled by using a snowball sampling technique. Data was collected through an online questionnaire contained Likert scale questions regarding assessing attitudes of the population towards COVID preventative measures. The statistical analysiswas doneusingSPSS version 22, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA),and regression tests were used to evaluate the relationship between the variables. Results: The mean score for perception towards COVID 19 was25.93± 2.217.Most of the items got more than 90% highest agreement was for dealing with diseases should be based on medical advice (97.63%) followed adhering to preventive procedure decrease disease infectionof the population(59.96%). The lowest score was for havingdirect contact witha COVID patient even when committing to preventive measures.There is nostatistical association betweenage and genderwith behavior.ANOVA test showed gender issignificantly associated with agreeing that following preventive measuresreduces the possibility of disease infection while the profession is significantly associated with being in contact with aCOVID patient while committing to preventive measures. Conclusion: This study showed a positive attitude towards COVID-19 among the Saudi population, which could play an important role in following the preventive measures and thus reduce the spread of the disease. Keywords: Behaviour, Attitude,COVID-19, Saudi Arabia