TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge, Attitude and Worry in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq during the Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak in 2022
T2 - An Online Cross-Sectional Study
AU - Ahmed, Sirwan Khalid
AU - Abdulqadir, Salar Omar
AU - Omar, Rukhsar Muhammad
AU - Abdullah, Ardalan Jabbar
AU - Rahman, Hawre Asaad
AU - Hussein, Safin Hassan
AU - Mohammed Amin, Halkawt Ismail
AU - Chandran, Deepak
AU - Sharma, Anil Kumar
AU - Dhama, Kuldeep
AU - Sallam, Malik
AU - Harapan, Harapan
AU - Salari, Nader
AU - Chakraborty, Chiranjib
AU - Abdulla, Araz Qadir
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The rapid spread of monkeypox (mpox) has been declared as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and worry levels of the general population in the Kurdistan region of Iraq regarding the ongoing mpox multi-country outbreak. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted between 27–30 July 2022, using a convenience sampling method. The questionnaire was adapted from previous studies addressing the same topic. The independent Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, and logistic regression were used to assess possible factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and worry toward mpox. A total of 510 respondents were included in the final analysis. The participants showed a moderate level of mpox knowledge, a neutral attitude towards mpox, and a relatively moderate worry level. The logistic regression analysis showed that age, gender, marital status, religion, level of education, and place of residence were associated with mpox knowledge; however, the significant variables in the multivariate regression analysis were gender, religion, level of education, and residential area. Gender and residential area were associated with attitudes toward mpox; however, the significant variables in the multivariate regression analysis were gender and residential areas. The worry toward mpox was influenced by gender, marital status, religion, and place of residence, yet the significant variables in the multivariate regression analysis were gender, religion, educational level, and residential area. In conclusion, the Kurdish population had moderate knowledge, a neutral attitude, and a moderate level of worry about mpox. Considering the continuous rapid rise in mpox cases in several countries, and its possible risk as pandemic amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, proactive control measures, adequate disease prevention strategies, and preparedness plans need to be formulated and immediately implemented to tackle the appearance of fears among people, and to safeguard the mental health of the public.
AB - The rapid spread of monkeypox (mpox) has been declared as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and worry levels of the general population in the Kurdistan region of Iraq regarding the ongoing mpox multi-country outbreak. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted between 27–30 July 2022, using a convenience sampling method. The questionnaire was adapted from previous studies addressing the same topic. The independent Student’s t-test, one-way ANOVA, and logistic regression were used to assess possible factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and worry toward mpox. A total of 510 respondents were included in the final analysis. The participants showed a moderate level of mpox knowledge, a neutral attitude towards mpox, and a relatively moderate worry level. The logistic regression analysis showed that age, gender, marital status, religion, level of education, and place of residence were associated with mpox knowledge; however, the significant variables in the multivariate regression analysis were gender, religion, level of education, and residential area. Gender and residential area were associated with attitudes toward mpox; however, the significant variables in the multivariate regression analysis were gender and residential areas. The worry toward mpox was influenced by gender, marital status, religion, and place of residence, yet the significant variables in the multivariate regression analysis were gender, religion, educational level, and residential area. In conclusion, the Kurdish population had moderate knowledge, a neutral attitude, and a moderate level of worry about mpox. Considering the continuous rapid rise in mpox cases in several countries, and its possible risk as pandemic amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, proactive control measures, adequate disease prevention strategies, and preparedness plans need to be formulated and immediately implemented to tackle the appearance of fears among people, and to safeguard the mental health of the public.
KW - attitude
KW - fear
KW - knowledge
KW - monkeypox
KW - mpox
KW - social media
KW - stress
KW - vaccine acceptance
KW - vaccine hesitancy
KW - worry
U2 - 10.3390/vaccines11030610
DO - 10.3390/vaccines11030610
M3 - Article
C2 - 36992194
AN - SCOPUS:85151568571
SN - 2076-393X
VL - 11
JO - Vaccines
JF - Vaccines
IS - 3
M1 - 610
ER -
