Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and compliance with COVID-19 precautionary measures among urology pat ients in Al-Jouf region, Saudi Arabia

Current study aims to investigate the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices to COVID19 precautionary measures among urology patients attending outpatient clinics in the public hospitals at Al-Jouf region, Northern of Saudi Arabia.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Al-Jouf region, Northern of Saudi Arabia. The study sample was recruited conveniently. The sample size was 274 urology patients who attended three public hospitals in Al-Jouf region; they are Prince Muteab bin Abdulaziz public hospital, Al-Qurayyat General hospital and Tabarjal public hospital. A self-filled questionnaire consisting of four parts was distributed over the study participants. The questionnaire will consist of 32 items measuring the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of COVID-19 precautionary measures. A three-point Likert scale will be used to scale each item (Agree, neutral, and disagree).
The study findings revealed that Saudi urology patients in Al-Jouf region had a level of knowledge about COVID-19 precautionary measures (2.15±0.74). In addition, the results showed that the participants had positive attitudes towards COVID-19 precautionary measures (2.47±0.68).
Finally, the study results indicated that there was a high degree of compliance to the safety practices of COVID-19 pandemic (2.32±0.63).
The study concluded that the urology patients attending the outpatient clinics in Al-Jouf region had a high level of knowledge, positive attitudes and high compliance to the COVID-19 precautionary measures. The study recommended performing more extensive educational programs and awareness campaigns to increase patients’ knowledge, awareness and compliance to the precautionary measures of COVID-19 outbreak.