Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice Regarding COVID-19 among Patients with Musculoskeletal and Rheumatic Diseases in Nepal: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE: The global health crisis created by coronavirus disease in 2019, ie, COVID-19, is of serious concern to rheumatologists. The relationship of rheumatic diseases, their therapies, and COVID-19 with multiple genuine and malicious information available online can influence the knowledge and attitudes of rheumatic patients. This Google Forms study was conducted to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of rheumatology patients with regard to COVID-19 in Nepal. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with rheumatic diseases. A modified version of a questionnaire was used after consent had been obtained. It was then translated into Nepali for comprehensibility. The final questionnaire contained a total of 29 questions: six on demographic parameters and twelve, five, and six on knowledge, attitudes and practice, respectively. Simple descriptive statistics were used to describe the positive responses in each domain. Logistic regression analysis was done to observe demographic variables associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practice. RESULTS: Among 380 participants, 63.2% were female, the majority (42.1%) aged 18–29 years, and all were literate. Most were aware of the clinical features of COVID-19 (91.6%), 71.5% had positive attitudes toward its control, some (31.5%) thought that they had a greater chance of contracting COVID-19 than others, and 18.9% believed that antirheumatic medications could increase their susceptibility to infection. A majority (>94.7%) of them practiced preventive measures. CONCLUSION: Patients with rheumatic diseases were aware of the general clinical features, routes of transmission, and general preventive measures regarding COVID-19 and did not significantly change their treatment practices.