Developing the questionnaire of general population knowledge, attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 outbreak

To develop the general population knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) questionnaire towards the COVID-19 outbreak.

A methodological study.

The general population KAP questionnaire items were designed using a literature review. A panel of experts was used to calculate content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). Construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and hypothesis testing. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's α coefficient. Eight hundred forty-seven patients referred to health centres in Tabriz, Iran completed the questionnaire in 2021.

The developed questionnaire consisted of three parts, including knowledge, attitudes and practices. EFA identified three dimensions for the knowledge (ways of transmission and prevention, high-risk groups, and symptoms and treatment), three dimensions for the attitudes (hope, fear and view of the vaccine) and three for the practices (adherence to personal and public hygiene, limiting their presence in society and protecting yourself in the community). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index for knowledge, attitudes and practices was 0.733, 0.725 and 0.886, respectively, with a significant Bartlett's test of sphericity (p < 0.01). The hypotheses of knowledge and attitudes that are the related factors of practices were confirmed. Cronbach's α was 0.63, 0.74, 0.77, 0.1 and 0.85 for knowledge; fear, hope and view of the vaccine subscales of attitudes; and practices, respectively.

The developed 47-item questionnaire had acceptable validity and reliability. Thus, nurses can use it to assess the clients' KAP during the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, nursing researchers can use this questionnaire in their descriptive and interventional studies.