Information, attitudes and behavior of Turkish people concerning COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of people towards COVID-19 and to evaluate compliance with practices such as social isolation, curfews, mask use and hand hygiene.

Methodology: A month after the COVID-19 infection was observed in Turkey, a standard questionnaire link was sent to participants via the online questionnaire platform to determine the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of the public. The survey results of 503 people were evaluated.

Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic 81.2% of the participants stayed at home, 79.1% of the participants wore a mask, 74% of the participants expressed to be following social distancing rules, 54.1% confirmed the use of hand sanitizers and 43.9% confirmed the use of gloves (43.9%), which are considered to be personal protective measures. The knowledge of terms such as 'quarantine' and 'isolation' was 94% and 97.4% respectively and 37.2% of the participants were of the opinion that the COVID-19 virus was produced in a laboratory environment. Within the research group, a rate of 65.6% of the participants found their own knowledge of COVID-19 to be sufficient. The participants found the announcements of official institutions more reliable than the announcements on television programs, the internet and social media.

Conclusions: The public information on COVID-19 was found to be sufficient. In order to prevent the spreading of the pandemic, participants were partially compliant to rules such as staying at home, using masks, maintaining hand hygiene and social isolation. Compared to men, women's use of protective equipment was higher.

Keywords: COVID-19; Perceived Risk; Preventive Health Behavior; Public Health.