Evaluation of Family Physician's Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors towards Post-COVID-19 Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Abstract

Objective: This study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and behaviors of family physicians working during the pandemic in terms of pulmonary rehabilitation for post-COVID patients, and to raise awareness of any deficiencies. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on family physicians working in the city centre of Kahramanmaraş during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 21-item questionnaire was created by scanning the relevant literature information to be applied to the participants. SPSS 22.0 statistical program was used to evaluate the data. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Those who use correct resources showed statistically significant differences in the responses to certain issues (p<0.05). These include pulmonary rehabilitation for post-COVID patients, the state of need (p=0.030), an increase in muscle strength and endurance (p=0.05), improvement in the quality of life (p=0.018), regular exercise and breathing being just as important as muscle training (p=0.043), rehabilitation of patients at the hospital (p=0.006), explanation of the necessity of rehabilitation to patients (p=0.000), recommendation of rehabilitation programs (p=0.023), suggestion of appropriate visual materials for the situation (p=0.037), and the benefit of follow-up for patients included in the program (p=0.000). Conclusion: There is a lack of knowledge, attitude and behaviour of family physicians about the pulmonary rehabilitation of post-COVID patients. Accordingly, it causes problems in treatment referral and follow-up regarding pulmonary rehabilitation.