Awareness regarding covid 19 disease among healthcare workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Southern Bihar

Abstract

Background: The SARS-COVID-19 virus is a highly infectious and life threatening which has taken the form of a global pandemic since march 2020. It presents with symptoms similar to comman respiratory illness like sore throat,fever,cough,weakness,myalgia and dyspnoea. At present
no definitive treatment is available for this deadly virus. Hence prevention is the most effective intervention. This global pandemic is causing severe burnout and exhaustion in health care workers. Hence, this study was conducted based on a questionnaire to assess the skills and attitude
of the health care professionals. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from October to December 2020 after approval
by the ethics committee of Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Jamuhar ,Bihar. A written and informed consent was obtained from the respondents before administering the questionnaire using WHO course materials on emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, a 13- item based survey questionnaire was developed. Health care workers features, memory, information sources, skills, and attitudes were all addressed in the survey questionnaire. The data was coded, validated, and analysed using open source software that is static. To measure frequencies and proportions, descriptive analysis was used. The chi-square test was used to determine the degree of correlation between variables. Statistical significance was described as a P value of less than 0.05. Results: The majority of the sample population (50.8 percent) was between the ages of 21 and 30, with 67.7% males and 32.3 percent females. Non-clinical/administrative employees made up 51.5 percent of The workforce, while nursing made up 48.5 percent (students and faculty). Among the sample population, the most common source of knowledge was Family/ Peers (64.6%), followed by News and Blogs (43.8%) and Social Media (40.8%). Corona virus transmission and prevention were not well understood. Nursing (students and faculty) performed substantially better than Non-clinical/personnel in charge of administration. Conclusion: It is critical that the health care workers community members knowledge and preparedness be strengthened. For reaching out to staff, directed educational interventions are needed, as well as the evolution and evaluation of these interventions.