5 th International Current Breakthrough in Pharmacy (ICB-Pharma) 2024, Indonesia | 95 Original Article KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE TOWARD COVID-19: COMMUNITY-BASED CROSS- SECTIONAL STUDY TRI YULIANTI 1* , HIDAYAH KARUNIAWATI 1 , NURUL MUTMAINAH 1 , LISTIANA MASYITA DEWI 2 , AISYAH SHABRINA ADANI 1 , TITIK SUSILOWATI 1 1 Faculty of Pharmacy Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Indonesia. 2 Faculty of Medicine Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Indonesia * Corresponding author: Tri Yulianti; * Email: tri.yulianti@ums.ac.id Received: 06 May 2024, Revised and Accepted: 01 Sep 2024 ABSTRACT Objective: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a significant global health crisis affecting countries worldwide, including Indonesia. Enhancing the information, attitudes, and practices about COVID-19 prevention among the general community is crucial for preventing the spread of the pandemic. This study aimed to assess the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) regarding COVID-19 and associated factors among the general public in Central Java, Indonesia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in two districts in Central Java Province from August to September 2020. The research questionnaire inquiries concerned the demographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with COVID-19. Descriptive analysis was performed to evaluate demographic data. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine the factors associated with KAP. Results: A total of 425 participants completed the survey questionnaire. Television and radio are the primary sources of information the public utilizes to acquire information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants showed a prevalence of 36% for good knowledge, 69% for a positive attitude, and 40.5% for adequate practice. Factors significantly associated with knowledge were gender [p = 0.038], level of education (primary school or below [p = 0.005], junior high school [p =<0.001, high school [p = 0.005]), and government employee [0.001]). Pensioners [p = 0.040], government employees [p = 0.000], and a good level of knowledge [p = 0.000] were significant factors influencing positive attitudes. Meanwhile, good knowledge [p =0.001], positive attitude [p=0.000], and being a housewife [p=0.035] were crucial determinants of practice. Conclusion: This study found that the population's knowledge and practice level are sufficient, but they have a positive attitude. To address this, targeted health education and interventions from healthcare professionals are necessary to improve their understanding. Keywords: COVID-19, Knowledge, Attitude, Practices © 2024 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ijap.2024.v16s5.52472 Journal homepage: https://innovareacademics.in/journals/index.php/ijap INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 was initially identified in Wuhan, China. It is believed to have originated from bats and transferred to humans through unidentified intermediary hosts at the Wuhan seafood market in December 2019 [1]. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global issue characterized by a persistent daily rise in cases. Engaging in hostilities towards individuals irrespective of their age or gender, this phenomenon has been classified as a worldwide pandemic. The primary clinical manifestations are fatigue, dry cough, dyspnea, myalgia, and in more serious cases, COVID-19 infection can lead to renal failure, severe pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome, and eventually mortality [2]. Until September 2020, Cumulatively, nearly 27 million COVID-19 cases and 900,000 deaths have been reported to WHO to date. Over 1.8 million new cases and 37,000 new deaths were reported for the week ending 6 September 2020, a 5% increase in cases and a 2% decrease in deaths [3]. Success in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic relies on the collective effort, discipline, and understanding of the community, which is essential to achieving positive outcomes. The most effective measure is to minimize exposure to COVID-19, and educating the public on information, attitudes, and behavior related to the virus is crucial. The implementation in the community relies on the use of preventive measures. The community can take preventive measures such as practicing good hand hygiene through the use of hand sanitizer or washing hands with soap, refraining from touching the eyes, nose, and mouth, and following proper cough and sneeze etiquette by covering the nose and mouth with the inner upper arm, wearing a mask, and maintaining a minimum distance of 1 meter from others [4]. Previous studies on infectious disease epidemics have found that factors such as awareness, knowledge, perceptions of risk, and effectiveness beliefs significantly motivate individuals to adopt preventive behaviors [5]. Infection prevention is significantly associated with individuals' knowledge and perceived disease risk, attitudes, beliefs about preventive measures, and trust in the government health department [6]. Recent research on COVID-19 has found that factors such as knowledge, controllability, optimistic beliefs, emotions, and risk perception can influence the preventive behavior of the general public [7–10]. Insufficient understanding of COVID-19 and established preventive measures can impact people's attitudes and behaviors, raising their susceptibility to infection [11]. Given the lack of research in the country and the absence of scientific evidence in this specific area of study, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and associated factors of COVID-19 infection among the general public in Central Java province. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study design and setting This research project utilized a cross-sectional survey design, implementing a validated self-administered questionnaire to collect data from the general public in two districts. The survey was conducted in two districts in Central Java Province, Karanganyar and Kendal, between August and September 2020. Sample size and sampling method The sample size was estimated using the single population proportion formula, considering the following assumptions [12] = ( 2 ⁄ ) 2 ∗(1−)  2 Zα/2 represents the value of the standard normal variable at the (1-α) % confidence level. In this case, α is 0.05, corresponding to a 95% confidence interval. The value of Zα/2 is 1.96. To estimate the proportion of knowledge, attitude, and International Journal of Applied Pharmaceutics ISSN- 0975-7058 Vol 16, Special Issue 5, 2024