Knowledge, attitude, practice towards COVID-19 pandemic and its prevalence among hospital visitors at Ataye district hospital, Northeast Ethiopia

Daniel Gebretsadik; Nuru Ahmed; Edosa Kebede; Saba Gebremicheal; Melaku Ashagrie Belete; Metadel Adane

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246154

Peer Review History

Original SubmissionOctober 27, 2020
4 Dec 2020 Decision Letter - Itamar Ashkenazi, Editor PONE-D-20-33793 KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PRACTICE TOWARDS COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS PREVALENCE AMONG HOSPITAL VISITORS AT ATAYE DISTRICT HOSPITAL, NORTH EAST ETHIOPIA PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Gebretsadik, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. On top of what the reviewer requested, please provide an explanation what the KAP acronym means. Please submit your revised manuscript by Jan 18 2021 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. 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Please include additional information regarding the survey or questionnaire used in the study and ensure that you have provided sufficient details that others could replicate the analyses. For instance, if you developed a questionnaire as part of this study and it is not under a copyright more restrictive than CC-BY, please include a copy, in both the original language and English, as Supporting Information, or include a citation if it has been published previously. 3. In the Methods, please discuss whether and how the questionnaire was validated and/or pre-tested. If these did not occur, please provide the rationale for not doing so. 4. Please correct your reference of "p=0.000" to "p<0.001" or as similarly appropriate, as p values cannot equal zero. 5.We suggest you thoroughly copyedit your manuscript for language usage, spelling, and grammar. If you do not know anyone who can help you do this, you may wish to consider employing a professional scientific editing service. 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Upon resubmission, please provide the following: The name of the colleague or the details of the professional service that edited your manuscript A copy of your manuscript showing your changes by either highlighting them or using track changes (uploaded as a supporting information file) A clean copy of the edited manuscript (uploaded as the new manuscript file) 6. Thank you for stating the following in the Funding Section of your manuscript: [No external funds were obtained; only institutional support from Wollo University and Ataye District Hospital] We note that you have provided funding information that is not currently declared in your Funding Statement. However, funding information should not appear in the Acknowledgments section or other areas of your manuscript. We will only publish funding information present in the Funding Statement section of the online submission form. Please remove any funding-related text from the manuscript and let us know how you would like to update your Funding Statement. Currently, your Funding Statement reads as follows: [The author(s) received no specific funding for this work] Please include your amended statements within your cover letter; we will change the online submission form on your behalf. [Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.] Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #1: Yes ******** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes ****** 3. 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Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes ****** 5. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #1: I would expected Vaccine-related questions to be included in the knowledge and attitude questions to assess knowledge of prevention from COVID-19 infection. Is there any reason why questions based on measuring vaccine information were not asked? While the participants in the study were questioned about the presence of chronic diseases, were chronic diseases specifically asked one by one or whether they had any chronic diseases in general?Considering that some of the participants in the study have a low education level, I think that the presence of this chronic disease should be questioned more clearly. Alcohol use is a very broad term. Knowing how often and how much alcohol is consumed is important to measure the effects of alcohol use on the subject under investigation.It is not appropriate for those who consume large amounts of alcohol every day to be evaluated in the same category of those who drink alcohol once a month. If you have used a measurement on this issue, it would be good to state it. ****** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. 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Revision 1
10 Jan 2021 Author Response Date: 1/10/2021 Response letter to PLOS ONE Manuscript ID number: PONE-D-20-33793 Title of paper: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PRACTICE TOWARDS COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS PREVALENCE AMONG HOSPITAL VISITORS AT ATAYE DISTRICT HOSPITAL, NORTHEAST ETHIOPIA General We thank all the reviewers for critically reviewing our manuscript which helps us to render better clarity to the paper and make it scientifically plausible. We also thank the PLOS ONE academic editors for their valuable comments and for giving us an opportunity to revise the manuscript. All the questions raised by the Reviewers and Editor have been addressed; and the manuscript is modified accordingly. Moreover, all the requested Editorial corrections are addressed in both the revised manuscript and the response letter. Changes are shown with track changes in the file labelled ‘Revised Manuscript with Track Changes’. The editor requested the authors to provide an explanation about the acronym KAP. KAP is an acronym for Knowledge, Attitude and Practice. The point-by-point response is given below. Editor Comments: 1. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. Author’s Response: Thanks for the significant editorial comment. The revised manuscript is now updated and meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. 2. Please include additional information regarding the survey or questionnaire used in the study and ensure that you have provided sufficient details that others could replicate the analyses. For instance, if you developed a questionnaire as part of this study and it is not under a copyright more restrictive than CC-BY, please include a copy, in both the original language and English, as Supporting Information. Author’s Response: Thank you for the comment. Copy of the questionnaire in both the original language and English is attached as Supporting Information. 3. In the Methods, please discuss whether and how the questionnaire was validated and/or pre-tested. Author’s Response: Comment is accepted and written as per suggestion. Prior to the actual data collection, the questionnaire was tested on 5% of the total sample size (513), on 26 patients, visiting the nearby Kemissie Health Center, which provides similar services as Ataye District Hospital, to check the validity of data collection tool. After pre-test was done, the questionnaire was revised and amended. 4. Please correct your reference of “p=0.000" to "p<0.001" or as similarly appropriate. Author’s Response: The comment is right and fully accepted. Accordingly, all "p=0.000", including in the tables, are changed into "p<0.001". 5. We suggest you thoroughly copyedit your manuscript for language usage, spelling, and grammar. Author’s Response: Thank you for the substantial comment. We have revised as per the comment. The English language usage, spelling and grammatical errors are corrected by a native English language speaker, Dr. Marrigje Jacoba Kreuger. 6. We note that you have provided funding information that is not currently declared in your Funding Statement. However, funding information should not appear in the Acknowledgments section or other areas of your manuscript. We will only publish funding information present in the Funding Statement section of the online submission form. Please remove any funding-related text from the manuscript and let us know how you would like to update your Funding Statement. Currently, your Funding Statement reads as follows: [The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.] Author’s Response: Thank you and corrections are made as per the comment; the Funding Statement is amended and written as: “The authors received no specific funding for this work.” Reviewer #1: comments: 1. I expected Vaccine-related questions to be included in the knowledge and attitude questions to assess knowledge of prevention from COVID-19 infection. Is there any reason why questions based on measuring vaccine information were not asked? Author’s Response: Thanks, we used Vaccine-related question in the data collection tool and its corresponding finding is presented in Table 2, question number 2 of the result subtopic. However, as our study participants were part of the total community who didn’t have much scientific knowledge, we only planned to ask a single question regarding vaccine-related knowledge. We didn’t incorporate much vaccine related questions in the structured questionnaire. 2. While the participants in the study were questioned about the presence of chronic diseases, were chronic diseases specifically asked one by one or whether they had any chronic diseases in general? Considering that some of the participants in the study have a low education level, I think that the presence of this chronic disease should be questioned more clearly. Author’s Response: The comment is right and fully accepted. Since the data was collected by onsite medical professionals, each question was explained clearly one by one for every study participant. The study participants (hospital visitors) were asked for the presence of chronic disease; besides we have traced information regarding history of chronic disease from the outpatient department log book. 3. Alcohol use is a very broad term. Knowing how often and how much alcohol is consumed is important to measure the effects of alcohol use on the subject under investigation. It is not appropriate for those who consume large amounts of alcohol every day to be evaluated in the same category of those who drink alcohol once a month. If you have used a measurement on this issue, it would be good to state it. Author’s Response: Thanks; we really appreciate the comment. The classification for alcohol consumption was based on National institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism guideline. In this case, the commonly used drink of beer with 4-6% alcohol concentration and other equivalent drinks were used as a measuring unit; and frequency of drinking habit was asked in our questionnaire if it lied in one of the following options: Every day Nearly every day 3 to 4 times a week 2 times a week Once a week 2 to 3 times a month Once a month 7 to 11 times in the last year 3 to 6 times in the last year 1 or 2 times in the last year During the data entry for statistical analysis, we have used cut-off points to categorise a study participant as usual alcohol user or not based up on the National institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism guideline. We have considered usual alcohol user while the study participant response was either every day, nearly every day, 3 to 4 times a week or 2 times a week We have considered non-usual alcohol user while the study participant response was either of the remaining classification Finally, we thank you for your critical review of the paper. Sincerely, Daniel Gebretsadik (Assistant professor) Attachments Attachment Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.doc https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246154.r002
15 Jan 2021 Decision Letter - Itamar Ashkenazi, Editor KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PRACTICE TOWARDS COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS PREVALENCE AMONG HOSPITAL VISITORS AT ATAYE DISTRICT HOSPITAL, NORTH EAST ETHIOPIA PONE-D-20-33793R1 Dear Dr. Gebretsadik, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, Itamar Ashkenazi Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246154.r003
Formally Accepted
11 Feb 2021 Acceptance Letter - Itamar Ashkenazi, Editor PONE-D-20-33793R1 Knowledge, attitude, practice towards COVID-19 pandemic and its prevalence among hospital visitors at Ataye district hospital, Northeast Ethiopia Dear Dr. Gebretsadik: I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org. If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org. Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. Kind regards, PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Dr. Itamar Ashkenazi Academic Editor PLOS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246154.r004

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