Knowledge, attitude, and practices toward COVID-19 vaccination among patients attending OPD of a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Background: The acceptance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination by the community was largely affected by information or misinformation spreading through various channels. Hence, in the process of deploying vaccines, it became important to explore the community's knowledge and attitude toward such intervention. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 vaccination among the general population of Kolkata and to compare knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 vaccination among different groups based on age, gender, socioeconomic status, educational qualifications, and occupation. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with 389 participants among the patients attending general outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata using a pre-tested questionnaire having sections on knowledge, attitude, and practices toward COVID-19 vaccination. Knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were then calculated and compared among different groups based on age, gender, socioeconomic status, educational qualifications, occupation, and history of COVID-19 infection. Results: Knowledge was found to differ significantly with respect to education, occupation, socioeconomic status, and history of COVID-19 infection. Attitude showed no variation to these variables, while practice scores were found to be significantly associated with education, socioeconomic status, and history of COVID-19 infection. The unavailability of slots for vaccination was not the reason for anyone remaining unvaccinated. Financial reasons were one of the factors determining vaccine hesitancy in parts of the world before vaccines were available. This study found that 72.8% of participants found vaccines to be inexpensive. Of the participants not having received even a single dose of vaccine, the most common reason was pregnancy and lactation-related issues. Conclusion: The reason behind such associations can be further explored in bigger multicentric studies. Improvement studies may also be carried out to assess the effectiveness of various channels of communication which may aid in figuring out lacunae and planning of similar vaccination drives in the future. [Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 2024; 14(1.000): 92-98]