Abstract

Sonali S. Patil*, Sarita K. Sharma, Ujwala U. Ukey, Pragati G. Rathod and Uday W. Narlawar

ABSTRACT

Background: Relentless spread of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has become a major cause of concern for healthcare professionals who have a crucial role to play in identification, assessment, reporting and management of potential cases of COVID-19.A poor understanding of the disease among healthcare workers may result in rapid spread of infection. Also they have the highest risk of being infected by this highly contagious disease. The present study was conducted, to assess the level of awareness and attitude of healthcare professionals about COVID-19 in Central India. Materials and methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted at a tertiary-care hospital and teaching institute using an online semi-structured questionnaire.919 respondents(311 post graduate students,156 interns and 452 nurses) completed the survey giving a response rate of 83.54 %.Statistical analysis was done using Microsoft office excel. Results: Social media, television and newspaper were the main sources of information. The overall awareness for all subgroups regarding etiology, symptoms and preventive measures was fairly good. However certain gaps were identifed in their knowledge about sequence of donning and doffing PPE, drugs used for treatment and chemoprophylaxis, containment and surveillance. A higher percentage of correct responses were obtained from postgraduate medical students and interns as compared to the nurses. The attitude of healthcare professionals towards COVID-19 appeared to be fairly positive. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals have adequate awareness of COVID-19 and a positive attitude. However there is a need to implement periodic educational interventions and training programs.