Background: A key component of effective disease prevention and control programs is improving public knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). This study aims to investigate factors influencing KAP about COVID-19 in patients with chronic diseases attending clinics affiliated with teaching hospitals in Iran and Iraq.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, designed to determine the prevalence of KAP in the study sample1, was conducted in 2021 on 1000 patients over 18 years of age with chronic diseases. Five hundred participants were Iraqi patients referred to Baghdad Medical City (مدینة الطب) in Baghdad, Iraq, and the remaining five hundred were Iranian patients from Imam Reza and Ghaem Hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. Available sampling was used. Data were collected using the standard Akalu knowledge, attitude, and practice questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software (version 16.0).
Results: The mean KAP scores in both groups were low, but the performance level of Iranian patients was significantly better than that of Iraqi patients (p < 0.05). A two-way ANOVA revealed no significant association between KAP scores and baseline or intervening variables (e.g., gender, marital status, education, income) in either the Iranian or Iraqi patients (p > 0.05). However, Pearson's correlation coefficient test indicated a significant inverse correlation between patients' age and their knowledge and practice scores regarding COVID-19 (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: An inverse correlation was observed between patients' age and their knowledge and practice regarding COVID-19, indicating that higher age was associated with significantly lower knowledge and poorer practices. No significant relationship was found between baseline or intervening variables and patients' knowledge, attitudes, and practices.