Knowledge-attitude-practice survey of coronavirus disease 2019 in workers returning to work in Guangdong

  Objective  To understand the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in workers returning to work in Guangdong province and put forward some suggestions for the targeted prevention and control of COVID-19.

  Methods  An online questionnaire survey in the occupation population selected through convenient sampling in Guangdong was conducted between 9 and 11, March, 2020. The results were analyzed one by one.

  Results  A total of 3 266 valid questionnaires were collected, and the valid response rate was 99.15%. In terms of knowledge, the awareness rates of infection source, transmission route and clinical symptoms of COVID-19 as well as personal protective measures were 81.48%, 69.84%, 37.17% and 97.03%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that the factors influencing awareness of COVID-19 characteristics included concern extent about the epidemic, gender, age, education level, place of domicile, time of returning to work, post of duty, working age. The differences were significant (P<0.05). In terms of attitude, 88.52% of the respondents and their families highly concerned about COVID-19 epidemic, 91.95% of the respondents felt more fear or nervous than usual if fever, cough and other related symptoms occurred, and 94.55% might seek medical care if relevant symptoms occurred. The proportion of the people supporting the isolation of high-risk persons and the current prevention and control actions was 99.51%. In terms of practice, the rate of good behavior of individual was 90.72%. Logistic regression analysis showed that factors influencing personal protection behaviors included concern extent about the epidemic, gender, age and post of duty. Meanwhile, the rate of good behavior of employing units was 58.42%.

  Conclusion  The awareness rate of COVID-19 related knowledge needs to be improved in workers returning to work in Guangdong, and the prevention and control measures were not fully implemented in some enterprises. It is suggested that comprehensive health education about COVID-19 needs to be continued in occupation population, and technical guidance for the epidemic prevention and control in enterprises should be carried out.