Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Covid-19 Among Solid Organ Transplant Patients at a Transplant Center in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of patients who have undergone kidney and/or liver solid organ transplants (SOTs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method(s) This single institution cross-sectional study was conducted on patients who underwent a liver and/or kidney transplantation between June 01, 2020, and June 30, 2021 at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. A KAP questionnaire of 26 questions assessing KAP regarding COVID-19 was designed and sent to 1,053 SOT recipients. A score of 70% or higher was deemed to be sufficient for each corresponding category. Statistical significance amongst parameters was determined using Chi-Square test or Fisher's exact test. Result(s) A total of 238 out of 1,053 (22.6%) SOT patients responded to the survey questionnaire. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics breakdown can be seen in Figure Attached. Those who scored sufficiently in knowledge were more likely to score higher in the practices portion of the survey (OR 4.25, 95% CI 1.59-11.38, p < 0.01). Those above 61 years of age were less likely to score higher than those between 41-60 years of age (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.23-0.93, p = 0.0314). Combined liver and kidney transplant patients were more likely to score higher than liver only transplant patients (OR 4.84, 95% CI 1.01-23.24, p < 0.05). Patients on triple immunosuppression were more likely to adhere to sufficient COVID-19 practices than those who were not on triple immunosuppression (OR 4.07, 95% CI 1.99-8.33, p < 0.001). Conclusion(s) In this study we observed correlations between practice scores and knowledge, age, type of SOT, and use of triple immunosuppression. This information will better help medical workers, public health officials, and health education programs target areas of improvement to improve overall safety of this vulnerable population against COVID-19. (Table Presented).