Assessment of COVID-19 knowledge, Preventive behaviors, severity, self-efficacy and mental health in Bangladesh and Iraq

Background: As a part of South- Eastern Asia- Pacific, Bangladesh has been following to adopt proactive non-therapeutic means to repress the spread of nCoV-2 just like other countries. As stated in reports of September, the COVID-19 pandemic has become very distressing in Iraq, a Country in Southwestern Asia Pacific reporting around 4,000 new cases every day and around 500 deaths a week. Method: ology: A descriptive, survey-based, cross sectional study was conducted among 1000 participants aged > 18 years old from Bangladesh and Iraq.The survey was conducted as an online survey distributed for the general population for a month. The questions were assessed using Likert-type response scale from 1 to 5 for almost all questions. Chi 2 , mean and standard deviation were used to present the data. Results: : There are significant differences between the mental health assessment, the country, educational level, hypertension and smoking. While the other variables have no effect on mental health. Approximately 99% of the participants said they had heard about COVID-19. More than 90% of the participants have stated that they know about COVID- 19. Also, more than 85% of the participants have claimed that they know the causes of COVID-19. Furthermore, participants (around 84%) were largely aware of the death rate for people infected by the virus. Conclusion: Mental health is mostly affected by the pandemic and need to be regularly assessed to keep the immunity competent. Poverty and lack of proper education are contributing factors in increment of COVID-19 cases and discarding about preventions.