KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICES, AND QUALITY OF LIFE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AMONG CLINICAL PHYSIOTHERAPISTS IN KUWAIT AND UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

V. Raigangar¹, A. Alshamlan²

Background: COVID-19 pandemic according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for approximately 16.5 million cases, and over half million deaths affecting 216 countries. Physiotherapists (PTs) in Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also been affected greatly. Awareness and knowledge of COVID-19 may largely influence PTs attitudes and practices and help identify possible risk factors for infection. Furthermore, PTs also experienced changes in their routines with pressure to meet demands of work and home which may impact their quality of life (QoL).

Purpose: To investigate knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP), and QoL during COVID-19 pandemic among clinical physiotherapists in Kuwait and UAE.

Methods: Following ethical approval from the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) and Dubai health authority, PTs filled an electronic survey distributed through respective physiotherapy associations. PTs provided informed online consent and were guaranteed anonymity. Between July 1st to July 25th, 2020 a total of 214 completed surveys (104 from UAE,110 from Kuwait) were obtained. The KAP questionnaire consisted of 37 multiple choice questions informed by the WHO and MOHAP guidelines. PTs also filled the WHO-QOL BREF (brief) which denote the perception of quality of life. PTs socio-demographic characteristics were also recorded, and data was analysed using SPSS, ver.21.

Results: Majority of PTs were female (72%), had a bachelor’s degree (66.4%), and were 30-49 years old (70.2%). Over half of the PT's had more than 10 years (60.3%) of experience in hospitals and outpatient clinics (88.8%) which were government facilities (66.8%). Overall, PT’s knowledge score was 81.5% with no significant differences between PTs. Regarding attitudes, PTs from Kuwait and UAE demonstrated comparable and positive attitudes to curb spread of COVID-19. PTs were stressed at work (72.8%) and felt at risk of getting COVID-19 (85.4%), however felt competent to treat patients with COVID-19 (80.5%). Despite this,  PTs disagreed replacing outpatient PT with home care (84.4%) but supported offering simultaneous tele-health (78.8%). Over 68% of PTs attended online education events regarding COVID-19 or their field of practice. With respect to practices, majority were aware about the use of personal protective equipment (PPE’s), disinfection and sanitation.Over 70% expressed the need for more COVID-19 information with policy documents and social media as the main source of information. PTs who treated patients with COVID-19 did so for respiratory distress (72.9%) and over half reported bronchopulmonary hygiene was provided by other health care workers (50%). In terms of QoL, all PTs reported moderate to high satisfaction in all domains. However, less than half (42%) felt they had the opportunity for leisure activities and 40.3% expressed having negative feelings such as despair, anxiety,and depression.

Conclusion(s): In conclusion, PTs from both UAE and Kuwait have very good knowledge, positive attitudes, and healthy low-risk preventive practices toward COVID-19. However, more work-place support programs must be provided to enhance opportunities for leisure and mental health counselling during these unprecedented times.

Implications: Understanding PTs knowledge,attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 may help inform training priorities and policies that can be implemented in healthcare facilities to enhance awareness and prevent occupational exposure.

Funding, acknowledgements: No funding was obtained for this study

Keywords: COVID-19, Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, Quality of Life

Topic: COVID-19

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Dubai Health Authority, Ministry of Health and Prevention

Committee: Dubai Scientific Research Ethics Committee, MoHAP Research Ethics Committe

Ethics number: DOH/CVDC/2020/1364, MOHAP/DXB-REC/ JJJ/No.65 /2020