Abstract
Objective: To assess the awareness level of medical doctors regarding COVID-19
Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted by Department of Medicine, Khyber Teaching Hospital
Peshawar. A total of 283 medical doctors including dental/medical undergraduates of final year professionals, postgraduate
residents and fellows participated in the study and filled an online validated questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of
questions about characteristics of study participants, origin and nature of COVID-19, clinical features and complications of
COVID-19, diagnosis and management of COVID-19 and lastly about preventive measures against COVID-19. The results
were stratified into tables on the basis of qualification of the study participants. Data was analyzed by SPSS 23 and presented in tables.
Results: Results of the survey indicate that doctors are generally aware about the different aspects of COVID-19. About
96.1% doctors were aware of bat origin of COVID-19; 49.5% were aware about animal to person and person to person mode
of spread of corona virus; 83.4% were aware about droplet borne mode of transmission of coronavirus infection; 91.9%
doctors knew about up to 2 weeks incubation period of COVID-19 and 97.2% of the participants were informed that COVID
had been declared a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). Seventy-seven percent (77%) doctors were aware that
dry cough is a common presentation of COVID-19 among the options of runny nose, body aches and pains and dry cough;
82% were aware that acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most lethal complication of COVID-19; 55.8% study
participants were aware that COVID-19 was causing most of the daily mortalities in current COVID pandemic while 75.3%
doctors were aware about 2% global fatality rate of COVID-19.
Most of the study respondents (97.2%) were informed about viral RNA PCR from nasopharyngeal swab as diagnostic modality for COVID-19; 87.6% doctors were aware about most common computed tomography (CT) chest findings of bilateral
lung infiltrates and 89% respondents knew about supportive care as ultimate care for patients with COVID-19.
Majority of doctors (66.1%) were aware that social distancing was most important preventive measure against COVID-19,
with frequent hand washing and use of face mask to follow respectively. Almost , 75.6% participants were aware that N95
mask was meant for use by staff taking nasopharyngeal swab from suspected COVID-19 patient and 94% of the doctors
were aware about 20 seconds recommended duration of hand washing by World Health Organization.
Conclusion: Doctor’s community is aware of different aspects of COVID-19 including epidemiology, clinical manifestations,
diagnostics, complications and preventive measures effective against COVID-19.
Iqbal Haider, Aliena Badshah, Ismail Tajik, Zahidullah Khan. (2020) AWARENESS LEVEL OF DOCTORS REGARDING CORONA VIRUS INFECTION DISEASE (COVID-19), Journal of Medical Sciences, Volume 28, Issue 3.
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