AWARENESS OF COVID-19 AND PRACTICES DURING LOCKDOWN PERIOD AMONG EDUCATED PERSONS WITH NON-SCIENCE BACKGROUND

Srabani Bhattacharya; Michelle Susan Jiju; Sundaram Kartikeyan

Volume : IX, Issue : VIII, August - 2020

AWARENESS OF COVID-19 AND PRACTICES DURING LOCKDOWN PERIOD AMONG EDUCATED PERSONS WITH NON-SCIENCE BACKGROUND

Srabani Bhattacharya, Michelle Susan Jiju, Sundaram Kartikeyan

Abstract :

This cross–sectional interview–based descriptive study was conducted by chain sampling using a pre–tested and pre–validated online questionnaire to determine the awareness of Covid–19 and practices during the lockdown period among educated persons with non–science background. The total number of respondents was 99 (81 females: 81.82% and 18 males: 18.18%). The mean age of females was 29.31 +/– 10.95 years while that for males was 34.28 +/– 10.43 years, without significant gender difference in mean age. The media were the source of information on Covid–19 for all respondents. Adequate levels of awareness, without significant gender differences, were observed regarding disease transmission, awareness of symptoms and knowledge of colour coding of zones for outeak control. However, significant gender differences were observed in frequency of hand washing (Z=4.248; p=0.00002), frequency of leaving home for buying groceries (Z=3.668; p=0.0002) and use of social media for connecting with friends and relatives (Z=2.01; p=0.044).