Knowledge and attitudes of participants about COVID-19
In general terms, patients in our questionnaire had good main knowledge
about the COVID-19 disease. There was no statistically significant
difference between the mean knowledge score and age, sex, marital
status, with whom the patient lived, their occupation, stages of cancer.
However, in our contributors, the knowledge score was importantly higher
among higher educational levels. Patients surveyed with university or
higher education had significantly higher knowledge mean scores compared
to those with lower levels of education. In the study conducted by Zhong
et al., the knowledge score of the participants about COVID-19 was
measured in an online cross-sectional survey, in which 6910 people
participated and statistically significant difference was found between
education level and knowledge level (11). Also in the study conducted by
Erdem D. and Karaman I., the knowledge of the coronavirus transmission
route they asked was found to be correlated with the increase in
education level (12). 72.7 % of participants claimed that they had
never heard the pandemic word before, this may be related to the
educational level of the participants. Because, more than half of our
patients had a low education level. Written and visual media including
TV and newspapers represented the most important sources of information.
The most frequently referenced source of information about COVID-19 in
the study conducted with a healthy population in Egypt; social media
platforms and the internet (13). In an another study in our country,
which searching the information sources of cancer patients’ relatives,
television was the rare referred information source about cancer,
unlikely. In the same study, the internet was the second most referenced
information source about cancer by family caregivers following the
oncologists. (14). The reason for this may be that our patients
participating in survey, had a low educational level, so they can not
use the internet and social media effectively.
At the question we asked about where the COVID-19 started, almost all
participants answered the question correctly about where the outbreak
first appeared and spreaded the world and our country. When we asked
about the the transmission way, most of the patients (87.3%) answered
correctly, saying with respiratory droplets. Erdem D. and Karaman I. in
their study, this rate was 48.3% (12). Also the majority of
participants reported that fever, dry cough, fatigue and muscle pain are
the main symptoms. These results were similar to the study among
Jordanian dentists about awareness, perception, and attitude regarding
COVID-19 and infection control (15). A vast majority of contributors
believed that the disease is more serious for the patients who have
diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cancer diseases and elderly
patients. This has been proven from the study published about the
COVID-19 disease in China. In this study by Mengyuan Dai et al.,
compared to COVID-19 patients with and without cancer, the mortality
risk is 2.3 times higher for cancer patients (8).
Almost all participants in our study avoided crowded places and close
contact with other people. Most of them believed in the importance of
using face masks when they go out during the pandemic process. Also, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested wearing cloth
face coverings to prevent transmission of the disease (16). Asymptomatic
people who carry the virus but do not show symptoms of the disease can
also cause the disease to spread (17). When we asked the question of
whether people with COVID-19 can transmit the virus to others when they
do not have a fever and cough, 66 % of the patients answered correctly.
With this question we asked, we have informed our patients who could not
answer correctly. Our study
indicated a higher level of appropriate hygienic practices among
participants. Nearly all of the participants reported washing their
hands with soap regularly for at least twenty seconds to prevent for
transmission. Quarantine provides prevent spread of disease. CDC
recommended quarantine period of 14 days for someone in contact with the
coronavirus. When we asked our participants about their knowledge
regarding quarantine day, most participants (95.5%) answered correctly.
Although there is no study in the literature directly questioning the
covid quarantine period, when we scanned the literature, 96 % of the
participants in a study conducted in India stated that quarantine is
important (13).