Combating New Challenge in Coronavirus Disease-2019 Management: Assessment of Factors Affecting Testing Refusal

ABSTRACT

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has introduced new ethical challenges in the care of patients and people who may have been exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 or have mild to moderate COVID-19. Refusal to get tested for COVID-19 and having poor adherence to infection prevention protocols are the areas of concern for the ongoing pandemic. Such situations increase the risk of infection to other patients and staff. The factors affecting testing refusal were studied with the help of the Google questionnaire. Methodology: The cross-sectional survey tool was developed and distributed after pilot testing. The study population was selected using mix sampling method, snowball, and random sampling using the mobile number of the participants. All the participants were informed about the purpose of the study and included after taking consent. Results: Of the 176 study participants, the majority were male (112, 63.6%), with a mean age of 37.2 years (standard deviation 10.4). Forty-one (23.3%) were health-care workers and 74 (42.1%) were private company employees. Seventy-one (40.3%) refused to get tested for COVID-19 when asked whether they will get tested in the presence of any COVID-19 symptoms and 81 (46.8%) refused to get tested in the absence of any symptoms. Conclusion: Health policy-makers should utilize the study results to formulate the policy regarding any future pandemic to reduce the level of stigma associated with an unknown disease. These clarifications and excuses asked to the study participants are meant to provide a deeper understanding to address the pandemic better.