Shamsundar Manaswi, Choudhary Shaista
Dr. B. R Ambedkar Medical College, Bangalore, India.
Pathology Dr. B. R Ambedkar Medical College, Bangalore, India.
Brown J Hosp Med. 2022 Jun 6;1(2):36121. doi: 10.56305/001c.36121. eCollection 2022.
Visiting the hospital is important as a part of check-up in avoiding the major risks of unknown and serious diseases irrespective of any pandemic. Our study aims to understand the attitude and behaviour of the public towards visiting the hospital during COVID-19 pandemic in two major hotspot areas of India namely western Maharashtra state and southern Karnataka state.
A cross-sectional study was conducted between July-August 2021 among the population of western Maharashtra and southern Karnataka states in India. A total of 636 respondents responded to the survey using an electronic form that was distributed through social media platforms and returned electronically. The inclusion criteria were literate undergraduate and postgraduate individuals from the public and individuals from the medical field at the time of data collection, having access to an internet connection to fill out the online questionnaire. Individuals who did not fill the form completely were excluded from the study.
Among 636 respondents, 74.8% were not ready to visit the hospitals while 25.2% of respondents were willing to go to the hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic if their symptoms were serious. The top three reasons for the reduced willingness to seek hospital care were fear of getting infected in the hospitals by COVID-19 patients (72.6%), fear of stepping out of home (31.1%) and fear of COVID-19 infection from lab equipment (24.5%).
Overall the study revealed that there was a reduction in willingness to visit hospitals for conditions other than COVID-19 after the start of the pandemic. Individuals were still willing to go to hospital if they experienced severe symptoms or symptoms attributed to COVID-19. These findings may be useful to develop strategies to address the public's safety concerns related to seeking hospital care during a pandemic.
无论是否存在任何大流行，前往医院就诊作为体检的一部分对于避免未知和严重疾病的重大风险都很重要。我们的研究旨在了解印度两个主要热点地区，即马哈拉施特拉邦西部和卡纳塔克邦南部，公众在新冠疫情期间前往医院就诊的态度和行为。
2021年7月至8月期间，在印度马哈拉施特拉邦西部和卡纳塔克邦南部的人群中进行了一项横断面研究。共有636名受访者通过社交媒体平台分发并以电子方式返回的电子表格对调查做出了回应。纳入标准为在数据收集时来自公众的识字的本科和研究生个体以及来自医学领域的个体，能够访问互联网以填写在线问卷。未完整填写表格的个体被排除在研究之外。
在636名受访者中，74.8%的人不准备前往医院，而25.2%的受访者表示如果症状严重，愿意在新冠疫情期间前往医院。寻求医院护理意愿降低的前三个原因是担心在医院被新冠患者感染（72.6%）、担心走出家门（31.1%）以及担心实验室设备感染新冠病毒（24.5%）。
总体而言，研究表明疫情开始后，除新冠之外的其他疾病前往医院就诊的意愿有所降低。如果个体出现严重症状或归因于新冠的症状，他们仍然愿意前往医院。这些发现可能有助于制定策略，以解决公众在大流行期间寻求医院护理时的安全担忧。
