Practices, awareness, and perception towards home-based COVID-19 management in south India
Most patients with COVID-19 experience mild illness which can be managed in a home environment. This study was done to assess the perception, awareness and practices regarding home-based management of COVID-19 among the general population in India.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was done in May and June 2021. Data were collected using a Google Form.
Results: Mean age of the 294 participants was 36.6 ± 12.1 years. Of these participants, 45 (15.3%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 anytime in the past. Among them, 37 (82.2%) underwent home-based management for COVID-19. Monitoring of body temperature and oxygen saturation was performed just once a day by 15.2% and 5.9% of COVID-19 patients respectively. Self-medication was practiced by 11 (29.7%) patients.
Disposable face masks were worn by 23 (62.2%) patients beyond eight hours of continuous usage. The disposable type of face mask was not discarded despite becoming wet and cloth masks were worn by eight (21.6%) patients. Disposable gloves were only worn by 14 (37.8%) care providers of COVID-19 patients. As many as 10 (27%) patients were tested for COVID-19 after completion of home isolation.
Awareness of all mild symptoms and signs of the disease were known to only 19 (6.5%) participants. Normal oxygen saturation in the blood was known to 40 (13.6%) participants. Just six (2%) participants were aware of the correct duration of home isolation in a symptomatic patient with COVID-19. The recommended duration of hand washing with soap and water was known to 102 (34.7%) participants.
As many as 17.4% and 32.7% participants were not confident in using thermometer and pulse oximeter respectively.
Conclusion
Practices, awareness and perception regarding certain essential measures in COVID-19 home management were found lacking among a number of participants. These need to be addressed by suitable training programs among the general population.
Corresponding author: Nitin Joseph
Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Grant information: The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.
Author details
1 Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, 575001, India
2 Department of Physiotherapy, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, 575001, India
3 Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Mangalore, Karnataka, 575001, India
Nitin Joseph
Roles: Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
Vijay Pratap Singh
Roles: Supervision, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing
Impana Venkatesha Murthy
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Vishaan Raman
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Meera Banihatti Nagaraj
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Rahul Vishwanath Shetty
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Krishna Sai Vemuri
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Shruthi Shreedhara
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Maranakatte Shridhar Sumukha Manja
Roles: Data Curation, Investigation, Writing – Review & Editing
Copyright: © 2021 Joseph N et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
How to cite: Joseph N, Singh VP, Murthy IV et al. Practices, awareness, and perception towards home-based COVID-19 management among the general population in south India.
[version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]. F1000Research 2021, 10:1271 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.74514.1)
First published: 10 Dec 2021, 10:1271 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.74514.1)
Latest published: 10 Dec 2021, 10:1271 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.74514.1)
