COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health care workers in Latin America

• Autor(a) principal: Sousa,Mayson Laércio de Araújo
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Shimizu,Iara S, Patino,Cecilia M, Torres-Duque,Carlos A., Zabert,Ignacio, Zabert,Gustavo E, Perez-Padilla,Rogelio, Varón-Vega,Fabio, Cohen,Mark, Ferreira,Juliana C
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132022000500202
• topic: COVID-19; Health knowledge, attitude, practice; Health personnel; Latin America

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health care workers (HCWs) practicing in Latin American countries during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a multinational cross-sectional survey study, using an online self-administered questionnaire. The final version of the questionnaire comprised 40 questions, organized in five sections: demographic and professional characteristics; COVID-19 knowledge; attitudes toward COVID-19; COVID-19 practices; and institutional resources. Results: The study involved 251 HCWs from 19 Latin American countries who agreed to participate. In our sample, 77% of HCWs participated in some sort of institutional training on COVID-19, and 43% had a low COVID-19 knowledge score. COVID-19 knowledge was associated with the type of health center (public/private), availability of institutional training, and sources of information about COVID-19. Concerns about not providing adequate care were reported by 60% of the participants. The most commonly used ventilatory strategies were protective mechanical ventilation, alveolar recruitment maneuvers, and prone positioning, and the use of drugs to treat COVID-19 was mainly based on institutional protocols. Conclusions: In this multinational study in Latin America, almost half of HCWs had a low COVID-19 knowledge score, and the level of knowledge was associated with the type of institution, participation in institutional training, and information sources. HCWs considered that COVID-19 was very relevant, and more than half were concerned about not providing adequate care to patients.