Vaidya Binit, Bhochhibhoya Manisha, Baral Rikesh, Nakarmi Shweta
Department of Rheumatology, National Centre for Rheumatic Diseases, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Open Access Rheumatol. 2020 Aug 21;12:167-173. doi: 10.2147/OARRR.S265816. eCollection 2020.
The global health crisis created by coronavirus disease in 2019, ie, COVID-19, is of serious concern to rheumatologists. The relationship of rheumatic diseases, their therapies, and COVID-19 with multiple genuine and malicious information available online can influence the knowledge and attitudes of rheumatic patients. This Google Forms study was conducted to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of rheumatology patients with regard to COVID-19 in Nepal.
A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with rheumatic diseases. A modified version of a questionnaire was used after consent had been obtained. It was then translated into Nepali for comprehensibility. The final questionnaire contained a total of 29 questions: six on demographic parameters and twelve, five, and six on knowledge, attitudes and practice, respectively. Simple descriptive statistics were used to describe the positive responses in each domain. Logistic regression analysis was done to observe demographic variables associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practice.
Among 380 participants, 63.2% were female, the majority (42.1%) aged 18-29 years, and all were literate. Most were aware of the clinical features of COVID-19 (91.6%), 71.5% had positive attitudes toward its control, some (31.5%) thought that they had a greater chance of contracting COVID-19 than others, and 18.9% believed that antirheumatic medications could increase their susceptibility to infection. A majority (>94.7%) of them practiced preventive measures.
Patients with rheumatic diseases were aware of the general clinical features, routes of transmission, and general preventive measures regarding COVID-19 and did not significantly change their treatment practices.
2019年冠状病毒病（即COVID-19）引发的全球健康危机备受风湿病学家关注。风湿性疾病、其治疗方法以及COVID-19与网上众多真实和恶意信息之间的关系，可能会影响风湿性疾病患者的认知和态度。本研究通过谷歌表单进行，旨在了解尼泊尔风湿性疾病患者对COVID-19的认知、态度和行为。
对风湿性疾病患者开展了一项基于网络的横断面研究。征得同意后使用了一份经过修改的问卷，并将其翻译成尼泊尔语以便理解。最终问卷共有29个问题：6个关于人口统计学参数，12个、5个和6个分别关于认知、态度和行为。采用简单描述性统计来描述各领域的肯定回答情况。进行逻辑回归分析以观察与认知、态度和行为相关的人口统计学变量。
在380名参与者中，63.2%为女性，大多数（42.1%）年龄在18 - 29岁之间，且全部识字。大多数人知晓COVID-19的临床特征（91.6%），71.5%对其防控持积极态度，一些人（31.5%）认为自己感染COVID-19的几率比其他人更高，18.9%认为抗风湿药物会增加他们的感染易感性。他们中的大多数人（>94.7%）采取了预防措施。
风湿性疾病患者知晓COVID-19的一般临床特征、传播途径和一般预防措施，且治疗行为未发生显著改变。
