Clinical Pharmacy Department, University of Science and Technology Hospital (USTH), Sana'a, Yemen.
Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2020 Dec 11;15(12):e0243962. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243962. eCollection 2020.
The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) represents a difficult challenge and could have devastating consequences for the healthcare system and healthcare workers in war-torn countries with poor healthcare facilities such as Yemen. Our study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, preparedness, counselling practices of healthcare workers regarding COVID-19, and the perceived barriers to adequately prevent and control COVID-19 in Yemen.
Healthcare workers (HCWs) from major healthcare facilities participated in this cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire comprising of five main domains (demographics, knowledge, self-preparedness, counselling practice, perceived barriers) was distributed among HCWs after obtaining informed consent. A convenient sampling technique was used. Descriptive and inferential analyses were applied using SPSS software.
A total of 1000 participants were initially targeted to participate in the study with 514 (51.4%) responding, of which 55.3% were female. Physicians and nurses constituted the largest proportion of participants, with 39.5% and 33.3%, respectively. The median scores for knowledge, self-preparedness, and counselling practice were 8 (out of 9), 9 (out of 15), and 25 (out of 30), respectively. The physician group showed a statistically significant association with better knowledge compared to the nurse group only, P<0.001. Males had higher preparedness scores than females, p<0.001. Also, the intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency departments presented a statistically significant difference by which the participants from these departments were more prepared compared to the others (e.g. outpatients, paediatrics and surgery) with P < 0.0001. The lack of awareness among the general population about COVID-19 preventive measures was perceived as the most common barrier for the adequate prevention and control of COVID-19 in Yemen (89.1%).
The major highlight of this study is that HCWs have, overall, good knowledge, suboptimal preparedness, and adequate counselling practices prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Yemen, despite the high number of perceived barriers. However, urgent action and interventions are needed to improve the preparedness of HCWs to manage COVID-19. The perceived barriers also need to be fully addressed by the local healthcare authorities and international organisations working in Yemen for adequate prevention and control measures to be in place in managing COVID-19.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是一个艰巨的挑战，对于也门等饱受战争蹂躏、医疗设施较差的国家的医疗保健系统和医护人员来说，可能会产生毁灭性的后果。我们的研究旨在评估医护人员对 COVID-19 的知识、准备情况、咨询实践，以及在也门充分预防和控制 COVID-19 的感知障碍。
主要医疗设施的医护人员参加了这项横断面研究。在获得知情同意后，向医护人员发放了一份包含五个主要领域（人口统计学、知识、自我准备、咨询实践、感知障碍）的自我管理问卷。使用便利抽样技术。使用 SPSS 软件进行描述性和推断性分析。
最初目标是招募 1000 名参与者参加研究，其中 514 名（51.4%）做出回应，其中 55.3%为女性。医生和护士构成了参与者的最大比例，分别为 39.5%和 33.3%。知识、自我准备和咨询实践的中位数评分分别为 8（满分 9 分）、9（满分 15 分）和 25（满分 30 分）。与护士组相比，医生组的知识得分具有统计学意义，P<0.001。男性的准备得分高于女性，p<0.001。此外，重症监护病房（ICU）和急诊部门的准备情况存在统计学差异，与其他部门（如门诊、儿科和外科）相比，这些部门的参与者准备得更充分，P<0.0001。公众对 COVID-19 预防措施的认识不足被认为是也门充分预防和控制 COVID-19 的最常见障碍（89.1%）。
本研究的主要亮点是，尽管存在许多感知障碍，但在也门 COVID-19 爆发之前，医护人员总体上具有良好的知识、准备不足和适当的咨询实践。然而，需要采取紧急行动和干预措施来提高医护人员应对 COVID-19 的准备水平。也门当地卫生当局和在也门工作的国际组织也需要充分解决这些感知障碍，以便在管理 COVID-19 方面采取充分的预防和控制措施。
