Knowledge and understanding among medical imaging professionals in India during the rapid rise of the covid-19 pandemic

During the first week of March,2020 the surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases reached all over the globe with more than 100,000 cases. Healthcare national and international authorities have already initiated awareness and lockdown activities. A poor understanding of the disease among medical imaging professionals (MIPs) may result in rapid spread of infection. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and understanding of MIPs about COVID-19. A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among MIPs about COVID- 19 during the fourth week of March 2020. An online sample of MIPs was successfully recruited via the authors’ networks in India using data collection tool – write google forms. A self-developed online KAP questionnaire was completed by the participants. The knowledge and understanding questionnaire consisted questions regarding the clinical characteristics and transmission routes of COVID-19. Assessment on practices towards COVID-19 included questions on techniques while imaging against COVID-19 suspected patients. Of 700 participants, a total of 550 MIPs completed the survey (response rate: 78.57%); 56.7% were males, 85.4.1% were aged 17–26 years, and most were undergraduates (77.6%) and postgraduates (17.1%). Regarding COVID-19, most of the participants answered correctly (95.5%) on symptoms, (84.4%) time interval for visible symptoms, (98.0%) transmission and (44%) airborne transmission respectively. A significant proportion of MIPs (36.4%) had poor knowledge about wearing multiple masks as an effective measure against coronavirus infection. Most of the respondents (48.5%) incorrectly considered X-ray as the reliable method of diagnosis for suspected COVID-19 patients. 44.6% of the respondents lacked knowledge about the steps involved in hand washing technique which is one of the most important safety practice methods in medical imaging to prevent spread of infection. Factors such as age and occupation were associated with inadequate knowledge and poor perception of COVID-19. As the current global threat of COVID-19 continues to emerge, it is crucial and critical to improve the knowledge and understanding of MIPs. Educational videos and live webinars are urgently needed to reach MIPs and further detailed studies are the need of the hour.