Журнал эргономики
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A Cross Sectional Study of Attitude and Behavior of People towards Visiting the Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Manaswi Shamsundar, Shaista Choudhary

Introduction: Visiting the hospital is important as a part of check-up in avoiding the major risks of unknown and serious diseases irrespective of any pandemic. Our study aims to understand the attitude and behaviour of common people towards visiting the hospital during COVID-19 pandemic in two major hotspot areas of India namely western Maharashtra and southern Karnataka.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted between July-august 2021 among the population of western Maharashtra and southern Karnataka. A total of 636 respondents responded to the survey using a google form that was distributed through social media platforms and returned electronically. In order to achieve the study's objective, the data were analyzed with spreadsheets like Excel and Word. The inclusion criteria were literate, undergraduate, postgraduate, and the people from medical field at the time of data collection and having access to an internet connection to fill out the online questionnaire. Individuals who did not fill the form completely were excluded from the study.

Results: Among 636 respondents 74.8% of them were not ready to visit the hospitals while 25.2% of the respondents were willing to go to the hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic unless the symptoms were serious. The top three reasons for the reduction in visits are fear of getting infected in the hospitals by COVID-19 patients (72.6%), fear of stepping out of home (31.1%) and fear of COVID-19 infection by the lab equipment (24.5%).

Conclusion: Overall the study revealed that there was a reduction in number of visits to the hospitals especially to the Outpatient Department (OPD) for common diseases in people after the pandemic started. But the people were still willing to go to the hospitals if they noticed any major symptoms or symptoms related to COVID-19. Our findings may be useful to develop strategies to address concerns in order to ensure that people do not get any serious illness because of the fear of COVID-19.