Brazilians' level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Brazil is facing increasing cycles of numbers of infected people and deaths resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This situation involves a series of factors, including the behavior of the population, that can be decisive for controlling the disease.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Brazilian population regarding COVID-19.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Cross-sectional survey-type study, conducted using a population sample from different Brazilian states.

METHODS

A quantitative, descriptive and analytical approach was used. Sampling was done according to convenience and via snowballing. The data collection instrument was a knowledge, attitudes and practices system.

RESULTS

1,655 people from all over Brazil participated in the survey; 80% were living in the southern region and 70.15% were female. More than 90% had knowledge and good attitudes relating to the means of transmission, preventive care and symptoms associated with COVID-19, although their knowledge and attitudes were not fully reflected in daily practices, for which there was lower adherence (80%). Greater knowledge was correlated with older participants, larger number of children, female sex and marital status; better attitude, with female sex and complete higher education; and better practices, with greater age, larger number of children and female sex.

CONCLUSION

A large part of the population has general knowledge about COVID-19, but not all knowledge was applied in practice. Older people, females and university graduates stood out as the best informed and most committed to controlling the disease.