Behavior Responses and Attitude of the Public to COVID-19 Pandemic During Movement Restrictions in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: The behavior of the general public and the adoption of precautionary measures during a pandemic determine the fate of the country in the absence of any specific cure This study aimed to determine the public attitude and behavior responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia during movement restrictions, and the predictors of behavioral responses METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study of 2470 adult individuals in Saudi Arabia, 17-29 April 2020 was conducted via Survey Monkey, using an anonymous validated e-questionnaire Data were collected on demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related attitudes, and behavioral responses in terms of;precautionary measures, preparedness, and self-quarantine activities, to be responded to by 4-point Likert scales Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify the significant predictors of compliance with different behaviors Significance was considered at p<0 05 RESULTS: Participants reported positive attitudes towards governmental actions (95%), self-hygiene (93 2%), social distancing (97 1%) and choice of healthy food (89 6%), and negative attitudes towards the current worldwide situation of the pandemic (81 0%) and hearing someone tested positive (77 8%) or died from COVID-19 (83 7%) High rates of compliance to behavior were reported by only 55 8% of participants in terms of precautionary measures (71 3%), preparedness (38 4%), and self-quarantine activities (46 1%) After adjusting for all possible confounders, the total attitude score was a significant predictor of the total scores of precautionary measures (t=12 01, p<0 001), preparedness (t=9 29, p<0 001), self-quarantine activities (t=12 05, p<0 001), and overall behavior response (t=14 09, p<0 001) Other significant predictors of higher overall behavior response scores were female gender (t=7 22, p<0 001) and non-Saudi nationality (t=3 40, p<0 001) CONCLUSION: This study provides baseline data on the behavioral response to the national COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia The levels of compliance to behavior response and attitude to COVID-19 pandemic were less than satisfactory Socio-demographics influence public behavior and protective health measures COVID-19 awareness programs are recommended