Covid-19 awareness among patients visiting a dental hospital in kerala, india

Background: The first case of COVID-19 was reported in the state of Kerala in India on 30th of January 2020. Since then the Government of Kerala has acted swiftly in preventing the spread of infection. The first wave affected 3 medical students from China, who were treated successfully. The second wave started from 7th of March and till date, about 401 patients have been diagnosed positive. This study was conducted between the first wave and beginning of the second wave to assess the awareness of patients visiting a dental teaching institution. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey. The target population was the patients visiting a dental teaching institution in the state of Kerala, India. The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions with 2 sub-questions. The questionnaires were distributed by the house surgeons posted in the Department of Public Health Dentistry. The respondents filled the answers in the questionnaire on their own and were asked to return the filled questionnaires immediately. The data collection was done over a period of one month during February – March 2020. Results: A total of 440 responses were obtained. All respondents had heard about corona virus. Over 98% knew it originated from China. 99% knew the country of origin. The most common symptom the respondents knew was breathlessness followed by flu like symptoms. Newspapers, government sources and social media were the most common sources of awareness. Over 58% agreed that they knew where to report. 52% were taking precautions. Over 96% were interested in knowing more about the disease. Conclusion: The respondents had a very good awareness on COVID 19, even before the second wave of the epidemic in Kerala.