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Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding COVID-19 Skin Manifestations among Doctors Working at Khartoum Dermatology and Venereology Teaching Hospital, 2021


Naaila G. Kabashe
Suad Hassan Hamid El Hassan
Assad Ali Rezigalla

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is a global pandemic caused by SARS_COV2. The symptoms of covid-19 include: fever, dyspnea, fatigue, a recent  loss of smell and taste, sore throat, cough, and cutaneous lesions. In addition, some skin manifestations were reported to be associated  with COVID-19.


Methods: The study design is a descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study. The study aimed to evaluate the level of  knowledge and practice about skin manifestations of COVID-19 among doctors working at Khartoum dermatology and venereology teaching hospital. A self-administrated questionnaire was used for data collection after an informed consent was taken.


Results: Among  140 doctors working in the dermatology and venereology teaching hospital, 75.7% of the doctors had knowledge that COVID-19 can  present with skin manifestations. The study results showed that about half of the participants have poor knowledge about COVID-19 skin  manifestations while 25% have no knowledge, and that 35 (25%) doctors have good knowledge. From a total of 140 doctors; 46.4% reported that when patients present with COVID-19 skin lesions, they will isolate them in separate rooms and call the epidemiology  center, whereas, 61 doctors (43.6%) did not know if they have a protocol for COVID-19 suspected cases. This study reported a significant  association between job category and level of knowledge toward COVID-19 skin manifestations measured by Chi-square test, the P-value  was 0.003 (significant at 0.05), and the same significant association was found between the year of rotation and knowledge.


Conclusion:  Half of the doctors covered by this study had poor knowledge about COVID-19 skin manifestations, and therefore, educating doctors in  dermatology hospitals about skin manifestations of COVID-19 is recommended, besides clear and precise guidelines and protocols for  diagnosis and management. 


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eISSN: 1858-5051