Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma

Awareness of COVID-19 among patient attendants coming to the emergency department in a tertiary care center in Hyderabad Metropolitan region: A questionnaire-based survey

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mulla Mahammad Rafi
Mohammed Ismai Nizami
Uppaluri Sarath Chandra
Ashima Sharma
Gaddam Dharani Reddy
Lubna Tarannum

Department of Emergency Medicine, Nizam’s institute of medical sciences Panjagutta, Hyderabad -500082, Telangana, India

https://doi.org/10.34172/jept.2020.35
Abstract
Objective: COVID-19 has become a major public health concern in recent times with detrimental effects on health and economy of the nation exerting unbearable pressure on health care personnel. It is vital for the caretakers and the people accompanying those patients to be aware of the ongoing pandemic and its impact on the society and to realize their responsibility towards curbing the spread of the disease. The aim of this study is to assess the awareness of COVID-19 among the attendants accompanying the patients at emergency department (ED) and to determine their perception of the disease. Methods: A questionnaire was prepared and the attendants were approached with it. The attendants responded to the questionnaire by choosing the appropriate answers. Illiterates were explained about the questions in the language they understood and the responses were recorded. The survey was conducted from May 25th, 2020 to June 10th, 2020. Descriptive analysis was done to represent the study characters. Results: A total of 509 participants responded to the questionnaire with the mean age between 30 to 50 years. Participants were fairly conversant of the preventive measures but a significant portion lacked the knowledge of transmission and the impact of COVID-19. Education was observed to have a positive correlation with the correct responses given. Conclusion: Public education for the spread of awareness is yet to reach the illiterate section of the society. The need exists for educating the attendants of the patients as well who actually are potential candidates for contracting and also for spreading the disease

Keywords

Awareness
COVID-19
Attendants
Emergency department
Subjects
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Journal of Emergency Practice and Trauma
Volume 7, Issue 1
January 2021
Pages 36-40

  • Receive Date 27 July 2020
  • Revise Date 09 September 2020
  • Accept Date 13 September 2020

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