Abstract
Italy was the first country in Europe to face the coronavirus pandemic. The aim of the study was to analyze healthcare workers’ (HCWs) level of information, practice, and risk perception towards COVID-19. We set up a cross-sectional study through SurveyMonkey® and distributed the link through Facebook and Whatsapp closed groups. The research instrument was a 31 items questionnaire distributed using Facebook and Whatsapp. It was conducted in Italy from February to May 2020. The study participants were general practitioners, pediatricians and other health professionals. A total of 958 participants were included: 320 (33.4%) general practitioners, 248 (25.9%) pediatricians and 390 (40.7%) other health professionals. The highest response rate was from Northern Italy (48.1%), followed by Central Italy (29.9%) and Southern Italy (22.0%). Less than a half (46%) of respondents felt they had a good level of information of COVID-19 case definition and of national prevention guidelines. Respondents reported to have changed their clinical practice; particularly, they increased the use of masks (87.1%, p < 0.001), disinfection and sanitization of doctors’ offices (75.8%, p < 0.001), the use of protective glasses (71.2%, p < 0.001), alcoholic hand solution (71.2%, p < 0.001), and hand washing (31.8%, p = 0.028). HCWs are at high risk of infection; less than a half of them felt adequately prepared to face COVID-19 pandemic, so they need extensive information and awareness of the disease to take adequate precautionary measures, and they are crucial to disseminate good practices.
Highlights
Our study shows that healthcare workers’ (HCWs) have a sufficient level of information about COVID-19, and participants frequently reported a change in their behavior in clinical practice during the pandemic
It is crucial for HCWs to be prepared and to apply all Infection prevention and control (IPC) in facing COVID-19 [29,30,31] considering that the prevalence of the infection among HCWs exceeded 10% in Italy [32,33,34] with a consequent loss of capacity for hospitals to respond adequately to the pandemic
The findings of this study suggest a significant gap between the amount of information available on COVID-19 and the depth of information among HCWs, regarding disinfection of doctors’ offices and contact surfaces, use of protective glasses and use of alcoholic solution for hand hygiene
Summary
On 31 December, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) received reports from the Chinese health authorities about the presence of pneumonia cases of unknown cause detected in the city of Wuhan, in the Chinese province of Hubei [1]. The Chinese health authorities identified a new coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory. Syndrome–Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [2]. The first two cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, which tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Rome, were confirmed on 30th January, both with a travel history to. On 21 February, 2020, the Italian National Institute of Health confirmed the
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