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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 10

Publication Date: October 25, 2021

DOI:10.14738/assrj.810.11051. Ghasemisarukkolai, M., Mostafavi, A. S., & Mishra, S. (2021). Knowledge, Attitude, Practice of Iranian Physicians about COVID-19

in Iran. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(10). 253-268.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Knowledge, Attitude, Practice of Iranian Physicians about COVID- 19 in Iran

Maryam Ghasemisarukolai

Department of Sociology, Payame Noor University, West Tehran

Atiyeh Sadat Mostafavi

Islamic Azad University-Tehran Medical Sciences

Dr. Sanjay Mishra

Professor, Department of Sociology, Adigrat University, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

As a result of the global crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak in late December

2019, Iran was also severely affected. The three provinces of Tehran, Mazandaran,

and Gillan were high-risk cities exposed to infection and grievously damaged.

Therefore, we decided to look at the level of knowledge, depth of attitude, and

quality of physicians' practice in these three provinces. The most significant goal

was to assess the level of KAP relative to the COVID-19 virus to provide

comprehensive information to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the

treatment staff to better cope and more effectively prevent and control critical

situations. For research methodology, a cross-sectional study was performed on a

sample of 300 people using a self-made questionnaire. An online questionnaire via

virtual networks and a paper questionnaire were also distributed by the principal

author in medical hospitals, which included four sections: demographic

information, knowledge, attitude, and practice. Cronbach's alpha confirmed the

validity and reliability of each component. The final results prove that the

knowledge of physicians was acceptable and significant at the level of 0.05.

Physicians' attitudes showed a level of fear and anxiety that was significant

according to a one-sample t-test and chi-square (Sig <0.05). In order to rank the

physicians' practice, a T-test was used, and the results of the Friedman test in the

first stage of the Chi-square test showed that the significance level is 0.05. Looking

at the research results, it can be said that the development of educational programs

can have a beneficial effect in increasing physicians' knowledge and controlling the

disease as effectively as possible. Also, due to the attitude associated with stress and

fear, it can be seen that providing laboratory and treatment equipment has been

one of the concerns of physicians.

Keywords: Knowledge- Attitude- Practice- COVID-19- Iranian Physicians

INTRODUCTION

Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease caused by the Acute Respiratory Syndrome called

Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)(1). SARS-CoV-2, which can lead to infections ranging from the

common cold to more severe illnesses, such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV)

and Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)(2).

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 10, October-2021

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

The main symptoms of COVID-19 in the early stages are fever above 40 ° C, dry cough, and

shortness of breath(3, 4). In late January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for

a joint effort by all countries to prevent its rapid spread, declaring it a "global epidemic"(5).

Despite national efforts to combat the spread of the disease, the success or failure of these

efforts depends to a large extent on knowledge, attitude and behavior. In particular, public

adherence to government-prescribed preventive measures is crucial to prevent the spread of

the disease(6, 7). In this study evidence shows that general knowledge is important in tackling

epidemics.

By assessing the level of public awareness and knowledge about this epidemic, gaining a deeper

insight into public perception and practice will lead to healthy actions and responsive behaviors

that will affect successful disease control(8).

The findings of this study are expected to provide helpful information about KAP among the

population of physicians at the forefront of disease control and prevention at this critical

juncture. These findings will inform public health officials about more public health

interventions, awareness and improve policies related to the prevalence of COVID-19.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

To understand the social consequences of epidemics, factors such as knowledge and how to act

in controlling fear and stress must be considered(9). In an epidemic, fear increases the level of

anxiety and stress in people(10). During epidemics, the number of people who have been

affected by social and psychological disorders due to poor knowledge, dysfunction and

subsequently have a negative attitude will greatly increase(11).

Therefore, this study was conducted to understand the level of knowledge of physicians in three

high risk provinces in Iran. Measuring the level of knowledge of physicians can reflect their

attitude and have a direct and positive effect on it. Also, with a correct understanding of

physicians' knowledge, it is possible to acknowledge their exact practice in following the health

instructions to reduce the prevalence of the epidemic and prevent the process of rapid

transmission.

EXPERIMENTS AND ANALYSIS

Study Population and Participants

A cross-sectional study was conducted about the KAP of Iranian physicians during COVID-19

on April 1st, 2021. Finally, the result of the investigation on September 1st, 2021, was

estimated.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in multispecialty hospitals in Mazandaran, Tehran,

and Gillan from the 1st April 2021 to the 1st September 2021. This study included all

physicians, medical students, residents, specialists working in public and private hospitals and

clinics. Ultimately, the responses of 300 samples were collected.

To maximize the diversity of responses, the researchers distributed the questionnaire through

social networks such as the Telegram and WhatsApp groups, which have thousands of

subscribers, leading to the questionnaire's publication (snowballing)(12).

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Ghasemisarukkolai, M., Mostafavi, A. S., & Mishra, S. (2021). Knowledge, Attitude, Practice of Iranian Physicians about COVID-19 in Iran. Advances

in Social Sciences Research Journal, 8(10). 253-268.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.810.11051

Questionnaire Design

A standard self-administered questionnaire was distributed among physicians by the principal

author and explained if they had any problems completing the survey. An online version of the

questionnaire was also made available to be filled up through the social network.

administered questionnaire composed of four parts: demographic information, knowledge,

attitude toward COVID-19, and physicians' practices. Validation took place in one step. First,

the questionnaire was given to 30 samples to be answered. Accordingly, the revised

questionnaire proved reliable, with a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.7(13, 14).

Data collection tools included an online survey in which the questionnaire was divided into two

parts. The first part examined demographic variables including gender, age, place of

employment, etc., and the second part consisted of 33 items.

The questionnaire was included multiple-choice questions. In this case, ten questions were

related to knowledge about the nature, source of transmission, symptoms, how to prevent,

diagnose, and treat COVID-19 to assess physicians' knowledge.

Physicians' attitudes were assessed through 13 items, each of which asked respondents'

feelings on a five-point Likert scale: (5) strongly agree, (4) agree, (3) neutral, (2) disagree, and

(1) Strongly disagree. The inquiries related to attitude consisted of the risk of infection, the

severity of fear and anxiety, and the risk of transmission to others.

The study evaluated physicians' practice through 10 questions with five options: always, often,

sometimes, rarely, and never, about handwashing, using a mask, observing social distance, etc.

Data Analysis

In this study, data analysis was performed using SPSS software. One-sample t-test, Chi-square,

and Friedman tests were also used to analyze the data. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was utilized

to normalize the questionnaire indices.

Finally, the correlations between contextual variables such as age, gender, marital status, etc.,

with KAP were examined among all physicians.

Table 1: Cronbach's Alpha

Variables N of Items Cronbach's Alpha

Knowledge 10 .784

Attitude 13 .750

Practice 10 .753

Note: In order to determine the reliability of the research variables, Cronbach's alpha was

calculated for each variable. For this purpose, 30 people were randomly selected from the

statistical population, and a questionnaire was distributed among them that the Cronbach's

alpha value for the variables was calculated as above. Since the Cronbach's alpha value for the

variables is greater than 0.7, the reliability of the questionnaires was confirmed.