Knowledge, attitudes, practices and perception towards COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey among Mongolian residents

On 11th March, 2020, WHO assessed that COVID-19 could be characterized as a pandemic. The prevalence of COVID-19 epidemics directly relates to the general population  ehavior; therefore, preventive measures against the spread of COVID are vital. Estimation of Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perception towards COVID-19 in the population will greatly assist in intensifying the government’s efforts to prevent it. This cross-sectional study was conducted among the general population of Mongolia using quantitative and qualitative method.Total of 1740 people aged 15-60 years old participated in the study from 3 bordering provinces (Bayan-Ulgii, Selenge and Dornogovi) and two districts of Ulaanbaatar (Songino-khairkhan and Chingeltei). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23. Deviation values of 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were used to assess the difference between the measurement of the accuracy of the results (distribution rate) and the groups (age, sex, location). 47.5% (95%CI: 44.9-49.7) of participants were from Ulaanbaatar, and 52.5 % (95%CI: 50.3-55.1) were from rural areas. The participants’ average age was 35. Most of the participants were married (72.0 percent, 1252) and women (60.7 percent, 1057). As for living conditions, 34.8% (95%CI: 32.7-37.1) of the participants live in apartments, and 65.2% (95%CI: 62.9-67.3) live in ger areas. Respondents answered an average of 9.23 ± 3.2 (95%CI: 9.09-9.38) out of 14 scored questions for required Knowledge of COVID-19. Knowledge score was higher among female participants (9.43 ± 3.14) than that among male participants (p = 0.0001).The score of participants with incomplete secondary education was 8.13 ± 3.24. However, this score has increased to 8.32 ± 3.44 for those with complete secondary education and 10.08 ± 2.71 for those with higher education (p = 0.0001). The majority of participants perceived the COVID-19 pandemic as very dangerous.  There was a growing tendency in households of spending a considerable amount of money on face masks and hand sanitizers as preventive measures from COVID-19. The respondents had a positive attitude towards not discriminating against COVID-19 infected people and had good knowledge about were to reach out in case of emergency when their level of Knowledge was high. Good preventive practices in the population were statistically significant concerning about their Knowledge of COVID-19. Despite 81.4 percent of the surveyed population reporting they wear face masks outdoors, quantitative and observational studies have shown that people wear face masks indoors relatively for a long time and handle it incorrectly. Two out of three respondents were not following social distancing guidelines at all.  According to the survey result, good hygiene practices towards COVID-19 prevention was insufficient, such as not washing hands properly (58.4 %), not possessing hand sanitizer (42.1 %), touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands (22.1 %), and not covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze (23.4 %). Knowledge score (9.56-10.35) was high among those who had good hygiene practices such as covering mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze.