Abstract
Objective:To assess the knowledge, awareness and practice level of health care workers towards Corona Virus disease - 2019 (COVID-19).Methods:A cross sectional study was conducted by administering a well-structured questionnaire comprising of three sections including knowledge, attitude and practice amongst health care professionals in various hospitals and clinics, over a duration of two months ‘Feb-March’ 2020. The data from 810 participants were collected manually as well as through online survey registered on www.surveys.google.com, using a validated questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of three sections assessing knowledge, awareness and practice of participants. The descriptive analysis was carried out for demographics and dependent variables with statistical program for social sciences. Spearman test was used to detect any relationship between the health care professional response with respect to their gender and level of education. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:More than half (57.2%) of the health care professionals were working in a hospital setting. Fifty two percent of health care professionals had awareness and 72% were practicing adequate measures to combat COVID-19. The majority (81.9%) believed that the sign and symptoms are similar to a common flu and the main strata of population that could be affected by COVID-19 are elderly (79%). Seventy three percent of participants did not attend any lecture, workshop or seminar on COVID-19 for awareness purpose. Sixty seven percent of health care professionals were practicing universal precaution for infection control and 57.4% were using sodium hypochlorite as a surface disinfectant in dental surgeries. There was no significant relationship (p > 0.05) between the health care professionals’ responses with gender and their education level.Conclusion:The study suggests that the vast majority of the health care professionals have adequate knowledge and awareness related to COVID-19. However some aspects of practice of health care professionals were found to be deficient including, following CDC guidelines during patient care, acquiring verified knowledge related to COVID-19, disinfection protocol and the use of N-95 mask. Mandatory Continued professional development programs including lectures and workshops on COVID-19 for all health care professionals are the need of the hour, to manage the pandemic and limiting the morbidity and mortality related to it.
Highlights
CoronaVirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral pandemic affecting more than one million people in more than 200 countries around the globe
The present study aimed to investigate the trends in knowledge, awareness and practices amongst health care professionals towards COVID-19 disease control during the outbreak in 2020
The study suggests that the vast majority of the health care professionals have adequate knowledge and awareness related to COVID-19
Summary
CoronaVirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral pandemic affecting more than one million people in more than 200 countries around the globe. Pak J Med Sci May- 2020 Vol 36 No COVID19-S4 www.pjms.org.pk COVID19-S49 emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by WHO in Jan’ 2020 It is caused by a new strain of novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) and was first reported in December 2019 in the Chinese province of Wuhan.[1] The main route of human-to-human transmission is through respiratory droplets (coughing and sneezing). It is transmitted from contact (shaking hands) with an infected person or a contaminated surface and transferring it to the mouth, nose or eyes.[2] COVID-19 has an extended incubation period of 2-14 days[3], with variable severity from asymptomatic to life threatening symptoms among different individuals.[4] Infected individuals can be asymptomatic, not just making the diagnosis difficult but preventing the transmission of the disease an arduous challenge.[5,6,7]
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