ABSTRACT
Background: During the COVID-19 era, it is crucial to determine the level of relevant infectious disease knowledge amongst medical students as they may influence public opinion by acting as informal medical advisors to their friends and family. We sought to assess the knowledge of students regarding COVID-19 at a single Polish medical university, to understand the level of knowledge and determine if dedicated COVID-19 education is necessary. Material and methods: The survey was conducted in Google Forms and access was obtained through the university's secure email. After exclusion, 1 001 students were enrolled. Results: The most common mask used amongst students is a surgical mask. Regarding SARS-CoV-2 transmission, 79.1% chose droplet and 19.3% chose airborne transmission. Only 35% agreed that surgical masks protect them from coronavirus and 70% strongly agreed or agreed that all healthcare workers should wear an N95/FFP3 mask. Students with a healthcare worker in the family more likely agreed that all healthcare workers should wear N95/FFP3 (p = 0.001). The source of information used affected the route of transmission chosen (p = 0.006). Conclusions: We recommend combating contradictory information by implementing dedicated education into the healthcare student curriculum on SARS-CoV-2, PPE, filtering efficiency of masks, modes of transmission of viruses, and how to use evidence-based medicine. Copyright © Medical University of Gdańsk.
ABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus pandemic has strongly affected health-care systems around the world, testing their patients’ care capacities. Admission restrictions, patients’ fear of hospitalization or other uncomprehended constraints has affected admissions to neurosurgery department. Material and methods: The clinical data of admissions from March 1st to July 24th 2020, as well as data of the control group in relevant periods of time in 2019 was collected from the local hospital database and compared. Results: The total number of procedures performed between March and July 2020 is 1545, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year it was the number of 2062, indicating a decrease by about 25%. Both head and aneurysm procedures decreased over the entire analyzed period. The number of procedures classified as "other" was higher in each of the three stages. Between March 1st and April 30th (Phase 1) mainly younger male patients were admitted. Conclusions: We demonstrated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work organization of our Neurosurgery Department. We report that after the introduction of appropriate solutions, it is possible to provide care to neurosurgical patients while ensuring the safety of patients and Staff during the pandemic. Copyright © Medical University of Gdańsk.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The internet has become one of the most important resources for the general population when searching for healthcare information. However, the information available is not always suitable for all readers because of its difficult readability. We sought to assess the readability of online information regarding the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and establish whether they follow the patient educational information reading level recommendations. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study. METHODS: We searched five key terms on Google and the first 30 results from each of the searches were considered for analysis. Five validated readability tests were utilized to establish the reading level for each article. RESULTS: Of the 150 gathered articles, 61 met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated. None (0%) of the articles met the recommended 5th to 6th grade reading level (of an 11-12-year-old). The mean readability scores were Flesch Reading Ease 44.14, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 12.04, Gunning-Fog Index 14.27, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook SMOG Index 10.71, and Coleman-Liau Index 12.69. CONCLUSIONS: Online educational articles on COVID-19 provide information too difficult to read for the general population. The readability of articles regarding COVID-19 and other diseases needs to improve so that the general population may understand health information better and may respond adequately to protect themselves and limit the spread of infection.