Monkeypox Knowledge and Confidence in Diagnosis and Management with Evaluation of Emerging Virus Infection Conspiracies among Health Professionals in Kuwait

Abstract

As the 2022 human monkeypox (HMPX) multi-country outbreak is spreading, the response of healthcare workers (HCWs) is central to mitigation efforts. The current study aimed to evaluate HMPX knowledge and confidence in diagnosis and management among HCWs in Kuwait. We used a self-administered questionnaire distributed in July–August 2022 through a snowball sampling approach. The survey items evaluated HMPX knowledge, confidence in diagnosis and management of the disease, and the belief in conspiracies regarding emerging virus infections (EVIs). The sample size was 896 HCWs: nurses (n = 485, 54.1%), pharmacists (n = 154, 17.2%), physicians (n = 108, 12.1%), medical technicians/allied health professionals (MT/AHP, n = 96, 10.7%), and dentists (n = 53, 5.9%). An overall low level of HMPX knowledge was noticed for items assessing virus transmission and non-cutaneous symptoms of the disease, with higher knowledge among physicians. Approximately one-fifth of the study sample agreed with the false notion that HMPX is exclusive to male homosexuals (n = 183, 20.4%), which was associated with lower knowledge with higher frequency among MT/AHP compared to nurses, physicians, and pharmacists. Confidence levels were low: confidence in diagnosis based on diagnostic tests (n = 449, 50.1%), confidence in the ability to manage the HMPX (n = 426, 47.5%), and confidence in the ability to diagnose HMPX clinically (n = 289, 32.3%). Higher confidence levels were found among nurses and participants with postgraduate degrees. Higher embrace of conspiracy beliefs regarding EVIs was noticed among participants with lower knowledge, and among those who agreed or were neutral/had no opinion regarding the false idea of HMPX exclusive occurrence among male homosexuals, while lower levels of belief in conspiracies were noticed among physicians, dentists, and pharmacists compared to MT/AHP. Variable levels of HMPX knowledge were observed in this study per item, with low level of knowledge regarding virus transmission. Differences in knowledge and confidence levels in diagnosis and management of HMPX should be considered in education and training aiming to prepare for outbreak response. The relatively high prevalence of embracing conspiratorial beliefs regarding EVIs is worrisome and needs proper interventions. The attitude towards male homosexuals’ role in monkeypox spread should be evaluated in future studies considering the possibility of stigma and discrimination in this most-at-risk group.

Assessing Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge and Their Confidence in the Diagnosis and Management of Human Monkeypox: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Middle Eastern Country

“…Improving knowledge and increasing the awareness about the disease can be valuable especially in relation to adherence to infection control measures [ 58 ]. Gaps in knowledge regarding MPXV transmission were found in this study as well as in the recent study among Italian physicians, as well as among health professionals in Kuwait [ 29 , 46 ].…”

“…Additionally, providing proper knowledge and training can improve the quality of care among HCWs which is an essential target in safe and high quality patient service [ 44 ]. A few past and recent studies had similar objectives and we aimed to follow their path in assessing HMPX knowledge among HCWs in Jordan [ 29 , 40 , 41 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Monkeypox: A Comprehensive Review

“…Previous and current evidence show unsatisfactory monkeypox knowledge among healthcare workers and students in health schools [ 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 ]. In addition, low levels of confidence to diagnose and manage monkeypox were shown in various settings [ 127 , 128 ].…”

“…In a recent review by Di Gennaro et al, the implementation of proper public health responses to contain the MPXV spread was delineated comprehensively [ 70 ]. Specifically, the specific actions at both the community and healthcare settings included: (1) vigilant surveillance for early detection and isolation of cases [ 70 ]; (2) training of healthcare workers to enable accurate and timely clinical diagnosis considering the current evidence of low self-reported confidence in the ability to diagnose and manage the disease among physicians and nurses [ 123 , 127 , 128 ]; (3) availability of accurate laboratory diagnostic kits cannot be overlooked, in light of the long list of differential diagnoses for patients presenting with unexplained acute rash with other nonspecific symptoms [ 70 , 71 ]; and (4) adherence to proper infection control measures, including the use of PPE and disinfection procedures [ 70 ].…”

Level of Knowledge regarding Monkeypox among Peruvian Physicians during the 2022 Outbreak: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Despite these limitations and its exploratory nature, to our knowledge, the present study is the rst one to assess the level of knowledge about monkeypox in physicians in Latin America during the 2022 outbreak and hopefully can serve as a model for future studies. In addition, our study involved a sample of more than 400 Peruvian physicians from different regions, which makes it the largest study of its kind published till now [30,22,20,21,48].…”