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. 2021 May 30;21:1020. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11067-2

Table 2.

Knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms and preventive measures

% reporting the following symptoms Female
n = 1083
(%) Male
n = 1073
(%) Total
n = 2156
(%) P value
 High Fever above 38 1053 (97.2) 1014 (94.5) 2067 (95.9) 0.001
 Difficulty breathing 988 (91.2) 969 (90.3) 1957 (90.8) 0.13
 Dry cough 915 (84.5) 885 (82.5) 1800 (83.5) 0.209
 Headache 703 (64.9) 678 (63.2) 1381 (64.1) 0.404
 Sore Throat 652 (60.2) 578 (53.9) 1230 (57.1) 0.003
 Tiredness/fatigue 558 (51.5) 480 (44.7) 1038 (48.1) 0.002
 Body Ache 343 (31.7) 324 (30.2) 667 (30.9) 0.459
 Loss of taste 218 (20.1) 160 (14.9) 378 (17.5) 0.001
 Loss of smell 186 (17.2) 143 (13.3) 329 (15.3) 0.013
 Diarrhea 143 (13.2) 118 (11.0) 261 (12.1) 0.116
Average no of signs (0–10) (SD) 5.3 (1.9) 4.9 (1.9) 5.1 (1.9) < 0.001
% reporting the following ways of preventing COVID-19 1083 (%) 1073 (%) 2156 (%) P value
 Wash hands with soap and running water 1069 (98.7) 1046 (97.5) 2115 (98.1) 0.038
 Use hand sanitizer 1042 (96.2) 1020 (95.1) 2062 (95.6) 0.19
 Wear masks 1018 (94.0) 989 (92.2) 2007 (93.1) 0.095
 Stand 1–2 m away from people 946 (87.3) 952 (88.7) 1898 (88.0) 0.326
 Stay home unless urgent 961 (88.7) 925 (86.2) 1886 (87.5) 0.076
 Do not touch face 956 (88.3) 921 (85.8) 1877 (87.1) 0.092
 Do not shake hands 955 (88.2) 935 (87.1) 1890 (87.7) 0.462
 Use digital money 867 (80.1) 838 (78.1) 1705 (79.1) 0.264
 Do not go to weddings/funerals 771 (71.2) 739 (68.9) 1510 (70.0) 0.24
 Do not go to church/mosque 763 (70.5) 730 (68.0) 1493 (69.2) 0.224
 Reduce the number of people they come to contact with 723 (66.8) 713 (66.4) 1436 (66.6) 0.879
 Avoid public transport/travelling 690 (63.7) 645 (60.1) 1335 (61.9) 0.085
 Scrub/clean surfaces 711 (65.7) 584 (54.4) 1295 (60.1) < 0.001
 Get tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) 459 (42.4) 527 (49.1) 986 (45.7) 0.002
Average scores (0–14) (SD) 11.0 (3.3) 10.7 (3.5) 10.9 (3.4) 0.104
Linear regression model No of observations = 2156 P > F = 0.0000 R Squared = 0.0241
Number of signs & symptoms Coefficient P value Confidence interval
 Gender (ref: Female) 0.36 < 0.001 0.19, 0.53
 Education; (ref: College education 0.296 0.008 0.070, 0.46
 Employment status: ref.: no employment
  Formal employment 0.35 0.001 0.15, 0.55
  Self-employed -0.15 0.191 −0.37, 0.07
Linear regression model No of observations = 2156 P > F = 0.0000 R Squared = 0.0241
No of preventive measures identified #of observations = 2156 P > F = 0.0536 R Squared = 0.0048
 Gender (ref: Female) −0.27 0.069 −0.021, 0.57
 Education; (ref: College education 0.10 0.543 −0.24, 0.46
 Employment status: ref.: no employment
  Formal employment 0.38 0.037 0.02 0 .74
  Self-employed 0.022 0.912 −0.37, 0.41