Scaling up Egyptian community action for health towards COVID19 (Multicenter Study)

Abstract

Objectives to examine the Egyptians’ behavioral changes with its determinants towards the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the Egyptians’ perception of the governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent information, preventive and control measures applied by the Egyptian health authorities. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Methods : An online survey was sent to the Egyptian population via all available means of online communication. Beside the sociodemographic information, the questionnaire intended to assess the behavioral changes and participants’ perception of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health preventive and control measures towards it. Results: Frequent hand washing with soap and water was the most frequent preventive measure adopted by the participants (84.3%), followed by avoiding crowded public places (83.1%). Nearly two thirds of Egyptian participants (65.2%) stated that the role played by authorities is suboptimal in the containment process of COVID-19 pandemic and almost half of them (49.8%) perceived that the rates notified and declared by the health authority as inaccurate. Worries about the COVID-19 pandemic was the most important determinant for adopting protective behavior. Conclusions: The majority of Egyptian participants adopted and complied with certain specific protective measures against COVID-19 pandemic. Residence, having enough knowledge and worries about COVID19 and being in a potential exposure to COVID-19 infection were significantly and positively influencing the protective behavior of the participants