AWARENESS LEVEL OF DOCTORS REGARDING CORONA VIRUS INFECTION DISEASE (COVID-19)
Keywords:
Awareness, Corona Virus Infection diseases (COVID-19), Coronavirus, DoctorsAbstract
Objective
To assess the awareness level of medical doctors regarding COVID 19
Material and Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted by Department of Medicine, Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar. A total of 283 medical doctors including dental/medical undergraduates of final year professionals, postgraduate residents and fellows participated in the study and filled an online validated questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of questions about characteristics of study participants, origin and nature of COVID 19, clinical features and complications of COVID 19, diagnosis and management of COVID 19, and lastly about preventive measures against COVID 19. The results were stratified into tables on the basis of qualification of the study participants. Data was analyzed by SPSS 23 and presented in tables.
Results
Results of the survey indicate that doctors are generally aware about the different aspects of COVID 19. About 96.1% doctors were aware of bat origin of COVID 19; 49.5% were aware about animal to person and person to person mode of spread of corona virus; 83.4% were aware about droplet borne mode of transmission of coronavirus infection; 91.9% doctors knew about up to 2 weeks incubation period of COVID 19 and 97.2% of the participants were informed that COVID had been declared a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO).
Seventy-seven percent doctors were aware that dry cough is a common presentation of COVID 19 among the options of runny nose, body aches and pains and dry cough; 82% were aware that acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most lethal complication of COVID 19; 55.8% study participants were aware that COVID 19 was causing most of the daily mortalities in current COVID pandemic while 75.3% doctors were aware about 2% global fatality rate of COVID 19.
About 97.2% of the study respondents were informed about viral RNA PCR from throat swab as diagnostic modality for COVID 19; 87.6% doctors were aware about most common computed tomography (CT) chest findings of bilateral lung infiltrates and 89% respondents knew about supportive care as ultimate care for patients with COVID 19.
Approximately 66.1% doctors were aware that social distancing was most important preventive measure against COVID 19, with frequent hand washing and use of face mask to follow respectively. Almost 75.6% participants were aware that N95 mask was meant for use by staff taking oropharyngeal swab from suspected COVID-19 patient and 94% of the doctors were aware about 20 seconds recommended duration of hand washing by World Health Organization.
Conclusion
Doctor’s community is aware of different aspects of COVID 19 including epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostics, complications and preventive measures effective against COVID 19.
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