%A Rayan Sayedgotb Mustafa Elrashied
%T Knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 post-vaccination in Malaysian and Arabian population
%X COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by Coronavirus 2 of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). As of January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international (PHEIC) concern regarding COVID-19. Since then, there have been continuous attempts in battling the virus including, complete lockdowns, social distancing, and complying with necessary preventive measures. Scholars have reported that the public's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of COVID-19 are likely to influence compliant preventive measures towards the virus. Evidence suggests that public KAPs are critical in combating pandemics. Now that more than 80%  of both populations have been vaccinated, it is relevant to study the KAPs post-vaccination and post-lockdown phase to determine the public’s compliance with practice towards the virus. The objective of this study is to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristic and KAPs towards Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus, vaccines, and infection status of a cohort in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. A binational, cross-sectional study consisting of 530 participants was conducted between December 2021 and May 2022. The study was aimed to demonstrate KAPs on a binational level to observe KAPs in two populations towards the virus and vaccine post-lockdown phase and to analyse the association of their socio-demographic characteristics with their KAPs. Of the 530 participants, 213 were reported to have previously encountered a COVID-19 infection and 317 have not. This study was conducted online, and the questionnaire was distributed in a convenience sampling strategy via social media platforms (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms) and responses were collected through online Google forms. Only those fully vaccinated and above 18 years of age were eligible for participation in the study. The data was extracted in an excel sheet form and analysed in IBM SPSS 27. To analyse the results of the study, statistical analysis of descriptive statistics, Chi-square analysis, and binary logistic regressions were performed. Descriptive statistics were used to display the sociodemographic characteristics of participants. Whereas Chi-square analysis was performed at 95% confidence interval for each population to analyse the association between KAPs and demographic characteries and their KAPs according to their infection status. The  findings of the study showed that participants in Saudi Arabia had better knowledge levels (p<0.05) than those in Malaysia. Female residents in both 
populations also displayed better knowledge levels than males. In Saudi Arabia, 
participants with lower degrees were found to have better vaccine knowledge (p<0.05) which opposed other findings in the study that revealed better KAPs for higher degree holders. Post-infection attitude levels of individuals did not reveal much of a difference between infected and non-infected. However, the practices and knowledge levels were drastically different – infected individuals exhibited better practices and knowledge than non-infected. Our study revealed alarming levels of knowledge for non-infected participants in Malaysia (GL:28.5%, PL:71.5%) and Saudi Arabia (GL39.2%, PL:60.8%). This raises a concern of gaps in knowledge levels including preventive measures and viral transmission. It is anticipated that the reported poor levels may have influenced their attitudes and practices, particularly in Malaysia, poor attitude and practices levels were reported. The identification of such gaps and specific groups in the society associated with them could provide useful information to health policymakers about the KAPs post-vaccination and post-lockdown that could aid in future pandemic educational and awareness programs.
%D 2024
%K COVID-19; pandemic; COVID-19 vaccines; post-infection
%I Sunway University
%L thol3234