Knowledge, attitudes and practice among physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dear Editor,

I would like to share some ideas on the article “Evaluation of knowledge and attitudes among intensive care physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey”, which was published in the Sao Paulo Medical Journal.¹ Erbas et al. concluded that “For intensive care treatment of ­COVID-19 patients, many factors require management, and clinicians’ experience is guiding future processes”.¹

Since COVID-19 is a new emerging disease, the data available for effective diagnostic and therapeutic management are limited. When a disease first occurs in a country, there is no doubt that practitioners usually only have limited knowledge. For example, in Thailand, the second country in which COVID-19 occurred,² the knowledge of local practitioners was not good when the disease first occurred.³

Therefore, the key important thing is medical education for practitioners. During a crisis, the data available changes rapidly and there is usually a problem in communication. Information technology (IT) may play a role, but its availability remains limited in remote areas. Additionally, because of the high influx of patients, practitioners might not have any time for education. A good plan for medical education for practitioners who have to care for these patients is necessary.

REFERENCES

• ¹
  Erbas M, Dost B. Evaluation of knowledge and attitudes among intensive care physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 6] . Sao Paulo Med J. 2020;S1516-31802020005014103. PMID: 32638938; doi: 10.1590/1516-3180.2020.02545062020.
  » https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2020.02545062020
• ²
  Yasri S, Wiwanitkit V. Editorial: Wuhan coronavirus outbreak and imported case. Adv Trop Med Pub Health Int. 2019;9:1-2.
• ³
  Apaijitt P, Wiwanitkit V. Knowledge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by medical personnel in a rural area of Thailand [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 22]. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2020;1. PMID: 32319875; doi: 10.1017/ice.2020.159.
  » https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2020.159

• 1
  Dr DY Patil University, Pune, India

• Sources of funding: None

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  14 Aug 2020
• Date of issue
  Sep-Oct 2020

History

• Reviewed
  17 July 2020
• Received
  20 July 2020
• Accepted
  20 July 2020