Objectives
The first case of COVID–19 in India surfaced in the state of Kerala on January 31 2020. Hence, an early exploration of knowledge and perceptions of medical students and professionals, regarding transmission and universal safety precautions during the early phase of the disease is aimed in the study.
Methods
A web-based, online cross-sectional survey was conducted among the healthcare population in India during late February 2020. A questionnaire was designed to assess the knowledge regarding clinical and epidemiological characters of COVID-19 along with the universal safety precautions. A virtual snowball sampling using predesigned google forms were disseminated through social media networks. Descriptive statistics along with Chi-square test were performed with a p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results
Among the 983 participants who provided their consent of willingness and completed the questionnaire, 63% represented pharmacy profession followed by 14% from nursing discipline. Even though the age of study population varied from 18 – 79 years and with a female preponderance of 54.1% (n = 532), students as a whole participated largely in the study (68.1%, n = 670). A mean knowledge score of 3.21±1.14 (out of 6) indicated inadequate knowledge among the study population. The study revealed that there is no statistically significant difference in knowledge score based on age, place of living and medical discipline, but a significant association was observed between knowledge level and gender (p = 0.004).
Conclusions
The knowledge regarding universal safety precautions and transmission of a disease is vital in preventing the community spread, while an inadequate and improper knowledge among medical population can amplify the spread. Online classes and training programs should be initiated at the university levels as well as a part of CME curriculum for up gradation of early knowledge regarding COVID-19.