{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,4]],"date-time":"2026-10-04T02:22:27Z","timestamp":1791080547924,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,8]],"date-time":"2020-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1594166400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: The ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 pandemic has expanded globally. The aim of the current study is to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of health care professionals in Greece towards SARS-CoV-2. Methods: From 10\u201325 February 2020, 500 health care workers were approached. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards SARS-CoV-2 were assessed via a personal interview questionnaire. For knowledge, each correct answer was given 1 point; attitudes, or concerns aimed at prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and practices, or behaviors towards performing preventive practices, were assigned 1 point each. Points were summed and a score for each category was calculated. Results: A total of 461 health care workers returned the questionnaire and were included in the analysis (mean age \u00b1 SD: 44.2 \u00b1 10.78 years, 74% females). The majority were nurses (47.5%), followed by physicians (30.5%) and paramedics (19%). The majority of subjects (88.28%) had a good level of knowledge (knowledge score equal to 4, or more). The majority of participants (71%) agreed with the temporary traveling restrictions ban. The uptake of a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 was estimated at 43%. Knowledge score was significantly associated with both attitudes score (p = 0.011) and practices score (p &lt; 0.001), indicating that subjects with a high knowledge score demonstrated a more positive perception on preventive measures and would practice more preventive measures. Attitudes score was significantly associated with practices score (p = 0.009) indicating that subjects with a higher attitudes score are more likely to perform practices towards the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Conclusion: There is a high level of knowledge concerning SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among Greek health care workers and this is significantly associated with positive attitudes and practices towards preventive health measures. The high level of knowledge of health professionals about SARS-CoV-2 may have contributed considerably to the successful management of the pandemic in Greece. Tailored educational campaigns aiming to increase the proportion of health care workers willing to accept a potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine could be of paramount importance in future proactive vaccine educational campaigns.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17144925","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,8]],"date-time":"2020-07-08T11:47:46Z","timestamp":1594208866000},"page":"4925","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":192,"title":["Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) of Health Care Professionals in Greece before the Outbreak Period"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6123-559X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitrios","family":"Papagiannis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7595-6715","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Foteini","family":"Malli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece"},{"name":"Respiratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41100 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitrios G.","family":"Raptis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41100 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8874-8085","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ioanna V.","family":"Papathanasiou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0244-9760","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evangelos C.","family":"Fradelos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zoe","family":"Daniil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41100 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Georgios","family":"Rachiotis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical Faculty, School of Health Science, University of Thessaly, 41100 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Konstantinos I.","family":"Gourgoulianis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41100 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017","article-title":"A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019","volume":"382","author":"Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"N. 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