Community level misconception about COVID-19 and its associated factors: Evidence from a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh

Bakebillah, M.; Billah, M. A.; Wubishet, B. L.; Khan, M. N.

Introduction: Misconception about COVID-19 has been spread out broadly that the World Health Organization declared it as a major challenge in the fight against the disease. This study aimed to assess common misconceptions about COVID-19 among the rural people of Bangladesh and its associated socio-demographic and media related factors. Methods: Data were collected from 210 respondents selected from three unions of Satkhira District, Bangladesh. The dependent variable was misconception about COVID-19 (Yes, No) which was generated based on the respondents responses to six questions on common misconceptions of COVID-19. Explanatory variables were respondents socio-demographic characteristics, mass media and social media use habits. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics of the respondents. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the factors associated with misconception about COVID-19. Results: Misconceptions about COVID-19 were found among more than half of the total respondents. More than 50% of the respondents reported they consider COVID-19 as a punishment from God. Besides, most of the respondents reported that they do not think COVID-19 is dangerous (59%), and COVID-19 is a disease (19%). Around 7% of the total respondents reported they consider this virus as a part of a virus war (7.2%). Bivariate analysis found that socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and factors related to social and mass media were significantly associated with misconception. However, when all the factors included together in the multivariate model, the likelihood of misconception was lower among secondary (AOR, 0.33, 95% CI, 0.13-0.84) and tertiary (AOR, 0.29, 95% CI, 0.09-0.92) educated respondents compared to respondents with primary education. Conclusion: This study obtained a very higher percentage of the rural people of Bangladesh having one or more misconceptions related to COVID-19. This could be a potential challenge in the fight against the pandemic. Effective use of mass and social media to communicate evidence-based information on COVID-19 as well as to educate the public about COVID-19 is important.