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).