KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF LABORATORY STAFF REGARDING COVID-19 INFECTION

Abstract

Objective: To determine the level of knowledge and practices of laboratory staff regarding COVID-19 infection. Materials and methods: It was a Multicenter, Cross-sectional Descriptive, Questionnaire-based study done in the Pathology laboratory of Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar. The participants were asked to fill out proformas after obtaining consent. The data was analyzed by SPSS. The normality of data was determined by the Shapiro-Wilks test. The difference in scores between demographic characteristics was determined by the Whitney U test and the Kruskal Wallis test. Kendall Tau determined the correlation between scores and demographics. b, point biserial and Spearman rho tests. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The age of 89 study participants ranged from 15-58 years (mean age of 34±9.6). The male-to-female ratio was 15.6:1. Mean knowledge and practice scores were 10.19±1.66 and 10.2±2.4. Knowledge and practices were good in all participants except that 42 (45%) participants denied avoiding going to crowded places. Mean knowledge score and practice score were higher in females (as compared to males) and in married participants (as compared to unmarried ones), but lower in undergraduates. There was no correlation between scores and demographic characteristics. Conclusion: The laboratory staff had good knowledge of COVID-19 and observed good practices. This shows the commitment of healthcare workers in Pakistan towards themselves and society in the crucial situation of COVID-19 infection. The scores were not associated with gender, marital status, or education level. Keywords: Knowledge, practices, COVID-19.