Knowledge about COVID-19: best practices in the North of Portugal and the importance of health education in the prevention of pandemic events

• Autor(a) principal: Oliveira, Joana
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Rodrigues, Isilda, Matos, Manuela, Carvalho, Isabel, Matos, A.C., Figueira, Luís, Fontes, Maria da Conceição, Alegria, Nuno, Lopes, Ana Patrícia, Vale, Beatriz do, Cardoso, Luís, Coelho, Ana Cláudia
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/8749
• topic: Best practices; COVID-19; Knowledge; North of Portugal

The rapid global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made COVID-19 one of the biggest pandemics of all time, with several devastating public health challenges. In this study, we investigated the knowledge towards COVID-19 best practices in the north of Portugal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed with a convenience sample of the population of northern Portugal to assess their knowledge about COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and measures to prevent and mitigate pandemics. An online validated questionnaire was completed by 411 participants, from September to October 2020. Results: The overall correct knowledge was 81.3%, which indicates a good knowledge by the northern Portuguese respondents about COVID-19. The correct answer score differed considerably between men and women, being significantly higher among the latter (12.28 ± 1.22; p = 0.011). Moreover, the highest knowledge was observed in participants who attended high school or above (12.27 ± 1.21; p < 0.000). Conclusion: This study contributes to the analysis of COVID-19 knowledge by the northern Portuguese population, emphasizes the crucial role of health education in the control and mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides field-based evidence to prevent the next pandemic event.