Knowledge and attitude of physicians towards 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: A cross sectional survey from Egypt | ||||
| Microbes and Infectious Diseases | ||||
| Article 10, Volume 1, Issue 3, November 2020, Page 126-135 PDF (292.65 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mid.2020.32292.1020 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Dina M. Ali   1; Mona S. Hamed 2
| ||||
| 1Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Human Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. | ||||
| 2Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Human Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a serious emerging public health issue and it has been identified as a major risk to human health in 2020. Egypt has more than 100 million population, of whom in poor economic conditions and with low education levels could be vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. Physicians are at the frontiers in battles against the emergence, spread, and control of COVID-19 pandemic. Research data are needed to develop evidence-based strategies to prepare health care systems to deal with the current epidemic. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes to COVID-19 pandemic among a group of Egyptian physicians. Methods: From March 15th to March 25th, 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey using non-probability accessibility sampling technique. The structured questionnaire was distributed online through E-mails and social networks to identify the knowledge and attitude among a group of Egyptian physicians regarding COVID-19 pandemic. Result: The study included 256 physicians. Of the participants, 48% were males 49.6% were females. The mean of total score was (19.6±2.3) out of 23 gained mainly from the social media (50.7%). About 67% of the participants heard of Coronaviruses before this pandemic, 78.5% identified other Coronaviruses. All the participants correctly identified the incubation period and 81.6% correctly identified the typical clinical symptoms. Most of the participants (97.6%) could estimate the fatality of COVID-19. Approximately 95% of the respondents knew no vaccination and 88% correctly answered that no current specific treatment for COVID-19 available. Almost all 98% of the participants knew the recommended general infection control precautions. Most of the participants showed positive attitude, about (97%) agreed that health care workers must avail themselves of all information about the COVID-19. Conclusion: The finding of this survey indicating that, faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, this studied group of Egyptian physicians showed positive attitude and satisfactory knowledge about emerging COVID-19 infection. Recommendations: Although the Egyptian Ministry of Health (MOH) has taken several major steps to prepare the health care system to be ready dealing with COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to develop educational programs to ensure continuous updated knowledge of the physicians. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Pandemic; Survey; Egypt | ||||
|
Statistics Article View: 701 PDF Download: 561 |
||||
