Corona pandemic: awareness of health care providers in Pakistan

Sadia Minhas; Rabia Mushtaq Chaudhry; Aneequa Sajjad; Iram Manzoor; Atika Masood; Muhammad Kashif; Sadia Minhas; Rabia Mushtaq Chaudhry; Aneequa Sajjad; Iram Manzoor; Atika Masood; Muhammad Kashif

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2020044

AIMS Public Health

2020, Volume 7, Issue 3: 548-561. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2020044

Previous Article Next Article

Research article Special Issues

Corona pandemic: awareness of health care providers in Pakistan

1.
Department of Oral Pathology, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan
2.
Department of Oral Medicine, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan
3.
Department of Community Medicine, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan
4.
Department of Histopathology, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Pakistan
5.
Department of Oral Pathology, Bakhtawar Amin Medical and Dental College, Multan, Pakistan

Received: 10 May 2020 Accepted: 20 July 2020 Published: 23 July 2020

Introduction Corona pandemic has resulted in a high mortality rate among health care professionals. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and practices of health care providers during this pandemic in Punjab, Pakistan.
Methods A web based cross sectional survey was conducted during 2^nd of April to 20^th April 2020 targeting health care professionals working in Punjab, Pakistan. A sample of 540 participants was collected using non probability, convenient sampling technique. Data was generated by using on line google forms after taking IRB approval from institution.
Results Adequate knowledge was found among health care providers regarding diagnostic tests, modes of transmission, incubation period and preventive strategies. Significant association was seen in knowledge of post graduate and MBBS doctors (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) regarding viral etiology (p = 0.006), sign and symptoms (p = 0.000), risk factors (p = 0.000) and mortality rates (p = 0.001). Hand washing was considered as best preventive measure by 95% of the health care providers.
Conclusion Post graduate doctors have better knowledge regarding corona virus disease transmission, risk factors, incubation period and preventive strategies as compared to undergraduate doctors.
- COVID-19,
- health care providers,
- knowledge,
- practices
Citation: Sadia Minhas, Rabia Mushtaq Chaudhry, Aneequa Sajjad, Iram Manzoor, Atika Masood, Muhammad Kashif. Corona pandemic: awareness of health care providers in Pakistan[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2020, 7(3): 548-561. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2020044

Related Papers:

Abstract

Introduction Corona pandemic has resulted in a high mortality rate among health care professionals. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and practices of health care providers during this pandemic in Punjab, Pakistan.

Methods A web based cross sectional survey was conducted during 2^nd of April to 20^th April 2020 targeting health care professionals working in Punjab, Pakistan. A sample of 540 participants was collected using non probability, convenient sampling technique. Data was generated by using on line google forms after taking IRB approval from institution.

Results Adequate knowledge was found among health care providers regarding diagnostic tests, modes of transmission, incubation period and preventive strategies. Significant association was seen in knowledge of post graduate and MBBS doctors (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) regarding viral etiology (p = 0.006), sign and symptoms (p = 0.000), risk factors (p = 0.000) and mortality rates (p = 0.001). Hand washing was considered as best preventive measure by 95% of the health care providers.

Conclusion Post graduate doctors have better knowledge regarding corona virus disease transmission, risk factors, incubation period and preventive strategies as compared to undergraduate doctors.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

[1]	Cucinotta D, Vanelli M (2020) WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Acta Biomed 91: 157-160.
[2]	Sahin AR, Erdogan A, Agaoglu PM, et al. (2020) 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: A review of the current literature. EJMO 4: 1-7.
[3]	Song Z, Xu Y, Bao L, et al. (2019) From SARS to MERS, thrusting coronaviruses into the spotlight. Viruses 11: 59. doi: 10.3390/v11010059
[4]	Mahase E (2020) Coronavirus: covid-19 has killed more people than SARS and MERS combined, despite lower case fatality rate. BMJ 368: m641. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m641
[5]	World Health Organization (2020) WHO Health Emergency Dashboard Disclaimer. Available from: https://extranet.who.int/publicemergency.
[6]	Du Toit A (2020) Outbreak of a novel coronavirus. Nat Rev Microbiol 18: 123-123. doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-0332-0
[7]	Waris A, Khan AU, Ali M, et al. (2020) COVID-19 outbreak: Current Scenario of Pakistan. New Microbes New Infect 35: 100681. doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2020.100681
[8]	Backer JA, Klinkenberg D, Wallinga J (2020) Incubation period of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections among travellers from Wuhan, China, 20–28 January 2020. Eurosurveillance 25: 2000062. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.5.2000062
[9]	Wang W, Tang J, Wei F (2020) Updated understanding of the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China. J Med Virol 92: 441-447. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25689
[10]	Ren LL, Wang YM, Wu ZQ, et al. (2020) Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in human: a descriptive study. Chin Med J .
[11]	World Health Organization (2020) Infection prevention and control during health care when novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection is suspected: interim guidance, January 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/infectionprevention-and-control-during-health-care-when-novel-coronavirus-(ncov)-infection-issuspected-20200125.
[12]	Centers for disease control and prevention (2020) Update and interim guidelines on outbreak of 2019 Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Available from: https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00427.asp.
[13]	Adams JG, Walls RM (2020) Supporting the health care workforce during the COVID-19 global epidemic. Jama .
[14]	World health organization (2020) Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: methods for detection, prevention, response, and control. Available from: https://openwho.org/courses/introduction-to-ncov.
[15]	ALdowyan N, Abdallah AS, El-Gharabawy R (2017) Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Study about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) among Population in Saudi Arabia. Int Arch Med .
[16]	Dey SK, Rahman MM, Siddiqi UR, et al. (2020) Analyzing the epidemiological outbreak of COVID-19: A visual exploratory data analysis approach. J Med Virol 92: 632-638. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25743
[17]	Bhagavathula AS, Aldhaleei WA, Rahmani J, et al. (2020) Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Knowledge and Perceptions: A Survey on Healthcare workers. medRxiv .
[18]	Khan S, Khan M, Maqsood K, et al. (2020) Is Pakistan prepared for the COVID-19 epidemic? A questionnaire-based survey. J Med Virol 92: 824-832. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25814
[19]	Modi PD, Nair G, Uppe A, et al. (2020) COVID-19 Awareness Among Healthcare Students and Professionals in Mumbai Metropolitan Region: A Questionnaire-Based Survey. Cureus 12: e7514.
[20]	Pakistan Medica & Dental Council (2020) The Statutory Regulatory & Registration Authority for Medical & Dental Education and Practitioners for Pakistan. Available from: http://www.pmdc.org.pk/Statistics/tabid/103/Default.aspx.
[21]	Huynh G, Nguyen TN (2020) Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. Asian Pac J Trop Med .
[22]	Taghrir MH, Borazjani R, Shiraly R (2020) COVID-19 and Iranian Medical Students; A Survey on Their Related-Knowledge, Preventive Behaviors and Risk Perception. Arch Iran Med 23: 249-254. doi: 10.34172/aim.2020.06
[23]	Khan MU, Shah S, Ahmad A, et al. (2014) Knowledge and attitude of healthcare workers about middle east respiratory syndrome in multispecialty hospitals of Qassim, Saudi Arabia. BMC Public Health 14: 1281. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1281
[24]	Nemati M, Ebrahimi B, Nemati F (2020) Assessment of Iranian nurses' knowledge and anxiety toward COVID-19 during the current outbreak in Iran. Arch Clin Infect Dis In Press.
[25]	Khader Y, Al Nsour M, Al-Batayneh OB, et al. (2020) Dentists' Awareness, Perception, and Attitude Regarding COVID-19 and Infection Control: Cross-Sectional Study Among Jordanian Dentists. JMIR Public Health Surveill 6: e18798. doi: 10.2196/18798
[26]	Moro M, Vigezzi GP, Capraro M, et al. (2020) 2019-novel coronavirus survey: knowledge and attitudes of hospital staff of a large Italian teaching hospital. Acta Biomed 91: 29-34.
[27]	Alzoubi H, Alnawaiseh N, Al-Mnayyis A, et al. (2020) COVID-19-Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Medical and Non-Medical University Students in Jordan. J Pure Appl Microbiol 14: 17-24. doi: 10.22207/JPAM.14.1.04
[28]	Carlos WG, Dela Cruz CS, Cao B, et al. (2020) Novel wuhan (2019-nCoV) coronavirus. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 201: 7-8. doi: 10.1164/rccm.2014P7
[29]	World Health Organization (2020) Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection when novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection is suspected, Interim guidance, 13 March 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail/clinical-management-of-severe-acute-respiratory-infection-when-novel-coronavirus-(ncov)-infection-is-suspected.
[30]	Li T, Wei C, Li W, et al. (2020) Beijing Union Medical College Hospital on “pneumonia of novel coronavirus infection” diagnosis and treatment proposal (V2. 0). Med J Peking Union Med Coll Hosp .
[31]	World Health Organization (2020) Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-MentalHealth-2020.1.
[32]	Zhou M, Tang F, Wang Y, et al. (2020) Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding COVID-19 among health care workers in Henan, China. J Hos Infect 105: 183-187. doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2020.04.012
[33]	Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, et al. (2020) Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci 16: 1745-1752. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.45221
[34]	Adhikari SP, Meng S, Wu YJ, et al. (2020) Epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, prevention and control of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the early outbreak period: a scoping review. Infect Dis Poverty 9: 29. doi: 10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x

publichealth-07-03-044-s001.pdf

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2020 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)