Capturing A Screenshot in Time: Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, and Vaccine Hesitancy Among the Latinx Community in Southern California Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Background: The Latinx population in the United States have experienced high rates of infection, hospitalization, and death since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is little data on the knowledge, attitude, and practices in specifically Latinx communities in the United States. OBJECTIVE We conducted a study to assess COVID-19 KAP and vaccine hesitancy among a Latinx cohort in the early stages COVID-19 pandemic, from July 2020 to October 2020 at a unique time when a vaccine was not available. METHODS Participants 18 years and older were recruited in a primary-care clinic in Southern California and asked to self-report sociodemographic characteristics, KAP, and vaccine hesitancy. KAP items were summed to create composite scores, with higher scores reflecting increased COVID-19 knowledge, positive attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic, and disease prevention practices. Bivariate and multivariable regression models were fit to test associations between sociodemographic characteristics and KAP scores. For our current analysis, we only included patients who self-identified as Latinx. RESULTS Our final data set included 256 participants. Participants had a mean age of 49 years (IQR 38.5-59), 72% of which were female, 77% had at most a high school degree, 35% had an annual income < $25,000, and 12% had previously tested positive for COVID-19. We found high knowledge regarding transmission and spread, moderate knowledge regarding symptoms awareness, overall negative attitudes which included high pessimism in government public health efforts and high amounts fear, anxiety, and frustration due to COVID-19 pandemic, and moderate participation in preventive practices. A college education was positively associated with a higher knowledge score compared to those without a college education (β = 0.14, 95% CI =0.01-1.60, p<0.01) when adjusted for covariates. Male gender had a positive association with COVID-19 attitude scores compared to female gender (β = 1.61, 95% CI = 0.50, 2.72, p<0.01) and male gender was negatively associated with the COVID-19 practices score compared to female gender (β = -0.16, 95% CI = -0.56- -0.06, p<0.01), when both adjusted for covariates. Among a subset of 203 patients, 19% indicated that if the vaccine were available, they would not take a COVID-19 vaccine and 27% were unsure. CONCLUSIONS Good knowledge and preventative practices in the population may have been a reflection of effective public health messaging and implementation of public health laws during the first wave of the pandemic; however, the overall fear and anxiety and may have been a reflection of the negative impact that the pandemic had on vulnerable populations such as Latinx community. Although our data is reflection of a previous time in the pandemic, we believe it captures a critical time in that can be used to provide unique insights regarding potential avenues for better protecting Latinx communities in future vaccine-resistant COVID-19 strains. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.2196/25265