Knowledge of Health Care Professionals and Medical Students Regarding Covid-19 in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Nepal

INTRODUCTION: The lack of knowledge among health care professionals leads to diagnostic delays, further spread of disease, and poor infection control practices. Health care professionals must be updated knowledge regarding COVID-19. This study aims to assess the knowledge of health care professionals regarding COVID-19 in a medical college in Chitwan. METHODS: A Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital in Chitwan, Nepal from April 22, 2020, to April 28, 2020. The institutional review committee of Chitwan Medical College provided ethical approval for the research. Data were collected with an online questionnaire using Google forms. The questionnaire was sent out to 724 potential responders who included health care professionals from medical, dental, nursing, and allied health sciences in Chitwan Medical College. A convenient sampling method was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences. RESULTS: A total of 181 respondents completed the web survey. Overall, a total of 35 (19.3%) respondents were found to have "Good" knowledge; 105 (58%) respondents had "Fair" knowledge and 41 (22.7%) respondents had "Poor" knowledge regarding various aspects of COVID-19. There was no significant difference among the various health professional groups in their knowledge scores under the four knowledge domains. CONCLUSIONS: The study of knowledge of health care professionals could act as a reference for the prevention and better management of COVID-19. This study shows that there is a need to implement periodic educational interventions and training programs on infection control practices for COVID-19 across all healthcare professions.