Background During the first week of March, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak reached more than 100 countries with over 100,000 cases. Health care authorities have already initiated awareness and preparedness activities worldwide. A poor understanding of the disease among health care workers (HCWs) may result in delayed treatment and result in the rapid spread of the infection. Objective This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and perceptions of HCWs about COVID-19. Methods A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among HCWs about COVID-19 during the first week of March 2020. A 23-item survey instrument was developed and distributed randomly to HCWs using social media; it required 5 minutes to complete. A chi-square test was used to investigate the level of association among variables, with significance set to P<.05. Results Of 529 participants, a total of 453 HCWs completed the survey (response rate: 85.6%); 51.6% (n=234) were male, 32.1% (n=147) were aged 25-34 years, and most were doctors (n=137, 30.2%) and medical students (n=134, 29.6%). Most participants (n=276, 61.0%) used social media to obtain information on COVID-19. A significant proportion of HCWs had poor knowledge of its transmission (n=276, 61.0%) and symptom onset (n=288, 63.6%) and showed positive perceptions of COVID-19. Factors such as age and profession were associated with inadequate knowledge and a poor perception of COVID-19. Conclusions As the global threat of COVID-19 continues to emerge, it is critical to improve the knowledge and perceptions of HCWs. Educational interventions are urgently needed to reach HCWs worldwide, and further studies are warranted.

Background: During the first week of March, the surge of coronavirus disease 2019 cases reached over 100 countries with more than 100,000 cases. Healthcare authorities have already initiated awareness and preparedness activities beyond borders. A poor understanding of the disease among healthcare workers (HCWs) may result in delayed treatment and the rapid spread of infection. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and perceptions of HCWs about COVID-19. Methods:A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among HCWs about COVID-19 during the first week of March 2020. A 23-item survey instrument was developed and distributed randomly to HCWs using social media; it required 5 minutes to complete. A chisquare test was used to investigate the level of association among variables at the significance level of p<0.05.Results: Of 529 participants, a total of 453 HCWs completed the survey (response rate: 85.6%); 51.6% were males, 32.1% were aged 25-34 years, and most were doctors (30.2%) and medical students (29.6%). Regarding COVID-19, most of the participants used social media to obtain information (61%), and a significant proportion of HCWs had poor knowledge of its transmission (61%) and symptom onset (63.6%) and showed positive perceptions of COVID-19 prevention and control. Factors such as age and profession were associated with inadequate knowledge and poor perception of COVID-19. Conclusion:As the global threat of COVID-19 continues to emerge, it is critical to improve the knowledge and perceptions of HCWs. Educational interventions are urgently needed to reach HCWs beyond borders, and further studies are warranted.

Background: Older people often receive multiple medications for chronic conditions, which often result in polypharmacy (concomitant use of 5‒9 medicines) and hyperpolypharmacy (concomitant use of ≥10 medicines). A limited number of studies have been performed to evaluate the prevalence of polypharmacy, hyperpolypharmacy, and potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use in older people of developing countries. The present study aimed to investigate regional variations in the prevalence of polypharmacy, hyperpolypharmacy, and PIM use in older people (60 + years) in India.Methods: Studies were identified using Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases published from inception (2002) to September 31, 2020. Out of the total 1890 articles, 27 were included in the study.Results: Overall, the pooled prevalence of polypharmacy was 49% (95% confidence interval: 42–56; p &lt; 0.01), hyperpolypharmacy was 31% (21–40; p &lt; 0.01), and PIM use was 28% (24–32; p &lt; 0.01) among older Indian adults. Polypharmacy was more prevalent in North-east India (65%, 50–79), whereas hyperpolypharmacy was prevalent in south India (33%, 17–48). Region-wize estimates for the pooled prevalence of PIM use in India were as follows: 23% (21–25) in East, 33% in West (24–42), 17.8% in North (11–23), and 32% (26–38) in South India. The prevalence of PIM use in adults aged ≥70°years was 35% (28–42), in those taking more medications (≥5.5/day) was 27% (22–31), and in adults using a high number of PIMs (≥3) was 29% (22–36). Subgroup analysis showed that cross-sectional studies had a higher pooled prevalence of polypharmacy 55% (44–65) than cohorts 45% (37–54). Hyperpolypharmacy in inpatient care settings was 37% (26–47), whereas PIM use was higher in private hospitals 31% (24–38) than government hospitals 25% (19–31).Conclusion: Polypharmacy and hyperpolypharmacy are widely prevalent in India. About 28% of older Indian adults are affected by PIM use. Thus, appropriate steps are needed to promote rational geriatric prescribing in India.Systematic Review Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier [CRD42019141037].

We intended to assess knowledge, attitude, perception, misconception and views (KAP-MV) of family members of PLWHA. A cross-sectional retrospective study conducted in Anti-retroviral centre of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial—MGM hospital, Warangal, Telangana, South-India from July to September 2014. A questionnaire containing 41 items was distributed among adult family members accompanying patients living with HIV/AIDS-PLWHA. Level of KAP-MV was categorized into poor (0–28), average (29–55) and good (56–82). Analysis was performed by Pearson’s Chi square, analysis of variance and Spearman’s correlation test on 41 variables using SPSS version 21 and p < 0.01. 538 questionnaires were distributed, response rate was (96 %). On knowledge scale, respondents had a mean score of 8.0 ± 1.7, attitude 5.8 ± 3.4, perception 23.4 ± 4.1, misconceptions 8.0 ± 2.1 and views 8.0 ± 3.9. The respondents mean score was 53.2 ± 9.1 (64.9 %). Overall, level of education, marital status, religious beliefs, and employment status has significant (p < 0.001) associations with KAP-MV. Knowledge was significantly correlated with respondents’ attitude (r = −0.15, p < 0.001), perception (0.39; p < 0.001), and views (0.381; p < 0.001). Family members of PLWHA with less knowledge score had more negative attitude, perception and views. Level of education, marital status, religious beliefs and employment status were identified as key barriers. Interventions targeting family members of PLWHA are warranted. Practice implications are as follows: Encourage role of family members.Deploy interventions.Minimize barriers.Change misconceptions.