A self-administered validated (Cronbach's alpha¼0.077) questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, attitude and practice among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Pakistan regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Findings showed that HCWs have good knowledge (93.2%, N¼386), a positive attitude [mean 8.43 (standard deviation 1.78)] and good practice (88.7%, N¼367) regarding COVID-19. HCWs perceived that limited infection control material (50.7%, N¼210) and poor knowledge regarding transmission (40.6%, N¼168) were the major barriers to infection control. Regression analysis indicated that pharmacists were more likely to demonstrate good practice than other HCWs (odds ratio 2.247, 95% confidence interval 1.11e4.55, P¼0.025). This study found that HCWs in Pakistan have good knowledge, but there are gaps in specific aspects of knowledge and practice that warrant attention.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable infection and Pakistan faces sudden hike in number of positive cases including number of healthcare professionals (HCPs) also acquired infection. Knowledge, attitude, and practice survey provides a suitable format to evaluate existing programs and to identify effective strategies for behavior change in society. Therefore, the aim of study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice among HCPs in Pakistan regarding COVID-19. An online survey-based study was conducted among healthcare professionals including physicians, pharmacists and nurses. A self-administered validated (Cronbach alpha= 0.077) questionnaire comprised of five sections (Demographics, Knowledge, attitude, practice and perceived barriers) were used for data collection. Of 414 participants, 29.98% (n=120) physicians, 46.65% (n= 189) pharmacists and 25.36% (n= 105%) nurses. Most commonly utilized information source was social media. Findings showed HCPs have good knowledge (93.2%, n=386), positive attitude (8.43±1.78) and good practice (88.7%, n=367) regarding COVID-19. HCPs perceived that overcrowding in emergency room (52.9%, n=219), limited infection control material (50.7%, n=210) and poor knowledge regarding transmission (40.6%, n=168) of COVID-19 are the major barriers in infection control practice. Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that HCPs of age group 40-49 years (OR: 1.419, 95%CI: (0.14-4.78, P=0.041) have higher odds of good knowledge. Similarly, age group of 31-39 years (OR: 1.377, 95% CI: 0.14-2.04, P=0.05), experience of more than 5 years (OR: 10.71, 95% CI: 2.83-40.75, P<0.001), and pharmacist job (OR: 2.247, 95% CI: 1.11-4.55, P=0.025) were the substantial determinants of good practice regarding COVID-19. HCPs in Pakistan have good knowledge, yet, there are areas where gaps in knowledge and practice was observed. To effectively control infection spread, well-structured . CC-BY 4.0 International license It is made available under a is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review) : medRxiv preprint training programs must be launched by government targeting all kinds of HCPs to raise their existed knowledge.

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Effective mitigation of coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) pandemic required true adoption of precautionary measures by the masses, that primarily depends upon their knowledge and practices behaviors. The current study aimed to evaluate the knowledge; practices of Pakistani residents regarding COVID-19 and factors associated with good knowledge and positive practices. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from 15-April 2020 to 20 May 2020 among 689 Pakistanis by using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Regression analysis was applied to find potential predictor of knowledge and practices. Of 689 participants, more than half had good knowledge; 80% had good practices regarding COVID-19 and majority seek knowledge from social media. Knowledge was significantly higher (OR>1.00, p<0.05) among educated and higher income participants. Positive practices were significantly (OR>1.00, p<0.05) related to the older age (≥50 years), higher education, higher income and good knowledge regarding COVID-19. The study concluded that Pakistani residents had good knowledge and practices towards COVID-19 yet there are gaps in specific aspects of knowledge, and practice that should be focused in future awareness and educational campaigns. The study recommends the ministry of health authorities to promote all precautionary and preventive measures of COVID-19-consisting of a better-organized approach- to all strata of society: less privileged people, older ones and less educated people, in order to have equilibrium of knowledge about COVID-19; hence effective implementation of precautionary measures.

Point your SmartPhone at the code above. If you have a QR code reader the video abstract will appear. Or use: https://youtu.be/NggAFXxX9vwPurpose: The single most significant barrier to healthcare for people who identify as transgender is poor access to healthcare providers trained in trans-health. Despite this, transhealth education is far from being a routine component of the undergraduate medical curriculum in developing countries like Pakistan. This study aimed to assess knowledge and attitudes regarding people who identify as transgender, as well as the perceived need for trans-health in the curriculum, amongst medical students in Pakistan.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-designed questionnaire was carried out amongst undergraduate medical students at the Aga Khan University. Stratified random sampling was used, whereby students were stratified based on their current year of medical education.Results: A total of 249 students were included in this survey. The majority (61%) had poor overall knowledge, with a significantly higher percentage of pre-clinical students (79.6%) having poor knowledge regarding differences in transgender health needs compared to clinical students (60.3%; p = 0.001). Most students acknowledged that individuals who identified as transgender faced a lack of access to healthcare (78.3%), were poorly integrated into society (92.0%) and were treated differently in a clinical setting (58.6%). Many students were unsure of how to address (49.8%) and clinically examine (38.2%) patients identifying as transgender. However, most students demonstrated good (49.4%) or fair (45.0%) attitudes towards individuals who identified as transgender, and the majority reported a high (54.6%) or moderate (42.2%) perceived need for the inclusion of trans-health in the medical curriculum. Conclusion:Despite deficiencies in trans-health education in the medical school curriculum, positive attitudes and a high perceived need among students lay the foundation for developing a medical curriculum that gives due priority to trans-health. In developing countries, this can help bridge disparities in healthcare provision to people who identify as transgender.