Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Trauma and Emergency), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India,

2 Department of General Surgery (Trauma and Emergency), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: During the 2nd week of July 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19)
infection spreading in the community. Now more than 15 lakhs peoples have been infected in India,
out of the 26816 patients were deceased. COVID 19 outbreaks become an additional hazard to the
health‑care workers (HCWs), leading to fatigue, anxiety, depression and fear of death. The objective
of this questionnaire‑based study is to know about the knowledge of HCWs about COVID 19, their
experiences while dealing with the disease, and the protective measures taken to prevent the infection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross‑sectional, questionnaire‑based study was conducted for
1 month starting from the 2nd week of June 2020 after getting institutional ethical clearance. This
study included 240 HCWs posted in the medical and surgical Departments of All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. This questionnaire was prepared in online Google forms and
required 2 min to complete. Mean, median, range, and standard deviation were used to describe the
continuous variables, and percentages were used to describe the categorical data.
RESULTS: Among 240 HCWs, 79.16% (n = 190) participants have good knowledge and adapted
good precautions (score 15–23) for COVID 19 infection. Rest 20% (n = 48) and 0.8% (n = 2)
participants has average (score 8–14) or poor knowledge (score <8) with adaptation of average or
poor precautionary measures against COVID 19, respectively.
CONCLUSION: This study concluded that we have the requirement of more educational training
programs for awareness of HCWs and precautionary measures against COVID 19. Thereby, HCWs
can improve their knowledge and participate in this fight against COVID 19 with more efficiency and
confidence.

Keywords

1. WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing
on COVID-19-11 March; 2020. Available from: https://www.
who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-generals-openingremarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19: 11 March; 2020.
2. Yi Y, Lagniton PN, Ye S, Li E, Xu RH. COVID-19: What has been
learned and to be learned about the novel coronavirus disease.
Int J Biol Sci 2020;16:1753-66.
3. Zhang WR, Wang K, Yin L, Zhao WF, Xue Q, Peng M, et al. Mental
health and psychosocial problems of medical health workers
during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Psychother Psychosom
2020;89:242-50.
4. I n f o r m a t i o n f o r H e a l t h c a r e P r o f e s s i o n a l s a b o u t
Coronavirus (COVID-19). Updated July 2020. Available from:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/index.html:
July; 2020.
5. World Health Organization. Emerging Respiratory Viruses,
Including COVID-19: Methods for Detection, Prevention,
Response, and Control. World Health Organization; June; 2020.
Available from: https://openwho.org/courses/introduction-toncov: June; 2020.
6. Mumu SB, Aktar MN, Nahar Z, Sharmin S, Mostaid S. Medical
doctors awareness, perception, and attitude towards COVID-19
in Bangladesh: A cross sectional study; 2020.05.14.20101659.
7. Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q, Jones FK, Zheng Q, Meredith HR, et al.
The Incubation period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
from publicly reported confirmed cases: Estimation and
application. Ann Intern Med 2020; 172 (9): 577-582. [Doi: 10.7326/
M20-0504].
8. Ng K, Poon BH, Kiat Puar TH, Shan Quah JL, Loh WJ, Wong YJ,
et al. COVID-19 and the risk to health care workers: A case report.
Ann Intern Med 2020;172:766-7.
9. Modi PD, Kumar P, Solanki R, Modi J, Chandramani S, Gill N.
Hand hygiene practices among Indian medical undergraduates:
A questionnaire-based survey. Cureus 2017;9:e1463.
10. Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, Hu B, Zhang L, Zhang W, et al.
A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of
probable bat origin. Nature 2020;579:270-3.
11. COVID-19: Protecting health-care workers. Lancet 2020;395:922.
12. Wang HX, Wang L, ZhangWR, XueQ, PengM, SunZC, et al. Effect
of transcranial alternating current stimulation for the treatment
of chronic insomnia: A randomized, double- blind, parallelgroup, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Psychother Psychosom
2020;89:38-47.
13. Chen Q, Liang M, Li Y, Guo J, Fei D, Wang L, et al. Mental health
care for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Lancet Psychiatry 2020;7:e15-e16.
14. Sonino N, Fava GA. Rehabilitation in endocrine patients:
A novel psychosomatic approach. Psychother Psychosom
2007;76:319-24.
15. Giubilini A, Douglas T, Maslen H, Savulescu J. Quarantine,
isolation and the duty of easy rescue in public health. Dev World
Bioeth 2018;18:182-9.
16. Asaad A, El-Sokkary R, Alzamanan M, El-Shafei M. Knowledge and attitudes towards Middle East respiratory sydromecoronavirus (MERS-CoV) among health care workers in SouthWestern Saudi Arabia. East Mediterr Health J 2020;26:435-42.
17. Alsahafi AJ, Cheng AC. Knowledge, attitudes and behaviours
of healthcare workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to MERS
coronavirus and other emerging infectious diseases. Int J Environ
Res Public Health 2016;13:1214.
18. A Step India is Taking Could Make Doctor Shortage a Non-Issue
in Coronavirus Battle; 27 March 2020. Available from: https://
economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/
healthcare/a-step-india-is-taking-could-make-doctor-shortagea-non-issue-in-coronavirus-battle/articleshow/74841848.cms,
27 March; 2020.
19. Das D, Kudpi RS, Mukherjee M, Unnikrishnan B, Rungata N.
Awareness among under graduate students of Mangalore city
regarding novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-A questionnaire study.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2020 Jun 24 : 1–4. [Doi: 10.1017/
dmp. 2020.204].