Knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Population-level estimation and a comparison of data obtained by phone and online survey methods

Peoples’ adherence to the guidelines and measures suggested in fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is partly determined by the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) of the population. In this cross-sectional study, we primarily addressed two key issues. First, we tried to determine whether there is a significant difference in the estimated COVID-19 knowledge level from the online and phone survey methods. Second, we tried to quantify the knowledge and attitude of COVID-19 in Bangladeshi adult population. Data were collected through phone calls (April 14-23, 2020) and online survey (April 18-19, 2020) in Bangladesh. The questionnaire had 20 knowledge questions with each correct response getting one point and incorrect/don’t know response getting no point (maximum total knowledge score 20). Participants scoring >17 were categorized as having good knowledge. The percentages of good knowledge holders were 57.6%, 75.1%, and 95.8% in the phone (n=1426), online non-medical (n=1097), and online medical participants (n=382), respectively. Comparison between phone and online survey showed that, overall, online survey might overestimate knowledge level than that of phone survey, although there was no difference for elderly, poor, and rural people. Male gender, higher education, living in town/urban areas, good financial condition, and use of internet were positively associated with good knowledge. However, higher knowledge was associated with having less confidence in the final control of COVID-19. Our adult population-level estimates showed that only 32.6% (95% CI 30.1-35.2%) had good knowledge. This study provides crucial information that could be useful for the researchers and policymakers to develop effective strategies.