Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of the Greek Population Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic during the National Lockdown (March 23–May 03, 2020): A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study

  1. Andreas Anestis
  2. Odysseas Lomvardeas
  3. Nikolaos Papadakis

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Abstract

Introduction: The study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward the COVID-19 pandemic during the total lockdown of spring 2020 in Greece. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 13 to May 5, 2020 using snowball sampling method. Adult residents of Greece anonymously completed an online survey that was distributed through email and social media. Demographic questions, questions regarding the knowledge about the disease etiology, diagnosis and prevention, and questions related to the respondents’ attitude and perception toward the restriction measures and the confidence in different kinds of institutions were included in the survey items. The appropriate statistical analyses were conducted according to the type of variable and the research question. Results: A total of 1396 fully complete questionnaires were collected. A moderate-high knowledge about COVID-19 was found in the study population (median 74.8%). The highest knowledge scores were found in females (74.8%, p = 0.015), individuals over 60 years old (77.3%, p < 0.001) and individuals having completed post-secondary or tertiary education (76.5%, p < 0.001). Five attitude patterns toward the pandemic were identified: “trust in institutions”, “trust in the restriction measures”, “trust in media and the internet”, “trust in traditional institutions”, and “measures deniers”. Age, education, and knowledge score were the factors defining the attitudinal patterns revealed. Conclusion: Education and public awareness seem to be the factors defining the successful management of the pandemic’s first wave in Greece. Repeated observations of attitudinal patterns are important for eliminating irresponsible behaviors in periods of health crises.

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  1. Version published to 10.18502/jbe.v8i2.10410
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.12.19.20248550: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: An informed consent was included on the initial page of the survey.
    IRB: The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki as revised in 2013 and had the Approval of the Bioethics Committee of the Medical School of Aristotle University.
    RandomizationBefore the questionnaire was administered, an internal consistency test was conducted in a pilot study among 45 randomly chosen participants and Cronbach’s alpha values for the Knowledge and Attitude - Perception sections were calculated.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    2.4 Data Analysis: The data obtained were coded, validated, and analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2019 and Jamovi version 1.6.8 (The Jamovi project (2020)).
    Microsoft Excel
    suggested: (Microsoft Excel, RRID:SCR_016137)
    Jamovi
    suggested: (jamovi, RRID:SCR_016142)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.12.19.20248550v1 on medRxiv