Knowledge on COVID 19 among the healthcare professionals in South Indian States

Abstract

As the COVID-19 has become a pandemic across the globe, the knowledge of healthcare workers (HCWs) about the diseases and its management is very vital to have a better control over the infection. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge of HCWs of the 5 south Indian states with higher rates of COVID-19 infection. An online survey with 25 validated questions about COVID-19 was administered to 385 HCWs across the study region. Prior to the administration, the questionnaire was validated for various standard param-eters using Cronbach’s alpha score greater than 0.7. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical significance was assessed using one-way ANOVA.p value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statis-tically significant. The overall knowledge about COVID-19 was found to be greater among the medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses from higher to lower scores with a mean value of78.81±13.45 compared to the other health-care workers 63.6±24.3. The one-way ANOVA revealed that the difference in the knowledge levels among the HCWs significantly differed (p=0.0012). The answers to few of the questions were found to be highly dynamic as the advi-sory guidelines are highly dynamic. The present knowledge level of HCWs in south India about COVID-19 is relatively high. However, there is a need for continuous education about COVID-19 to the HCWs and the national organizations and authorities should provide a structured and reliable information to the HCWs in order to have a better control over the COVID-19 infection.