Preparedness of Frontline Doctors in Jordan Healthcare Facilities to COVID-19 Outbreak

Aiman Suleiman, Isam Bsisu, Hasan Guzu, Abeer Santarisi, Murad Alsatari, Ala’ Abbad, Ahmad Jaber, Taima’a Harb, Ahmad Abuhejleh, Nisreen Nadi, Abdelkarim Aloweidi and Mahmoud Almustafa
Additional contact information
Aiman Suleiman: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Isam Bsisu: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Hasan Guzu: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Abeer Santarisi: Department of Emergency Medicine and Accidents, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Murad Alsatari: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Ala’ Abbad: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Ahmad Jaber: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Taima’a Harb: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Ahmad Abuhejleh: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Nisreen Nadi: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Abdelkarim Aloweidi: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Mahmoud Almustafa: Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: The number of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease of 2019) cases in Jordan is rising rapidly. A serious threat to the healthcare system appears on the horizon. Our study aims to evaluate preparedness of Jordanian frontline doctors to the worsening scenario. It has a questionnaire-based cross-sectional structure. The questionnaire was designed to evaluate preparedness according to knowledge about virus transmission and protective measures, adherence to protection guidelines, and psychological impacts affecting doctors. Institutional factors affecting doctors’ readiness like adopting approach protocols and making protection equipment available were investigated; 308 doctors from different healthcare facilities participated (response rate: 53.9%). Approximately 25% of doctors (n = 77) previously took care of COVID-19 patients, and 173 (56.2%) have institutional COVID-19 approach protocols. Only 57 doctors (18.5%) reported all PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) available. The self-reported score of preparedness to deal with COVID-19 patients was 4.9 ± 2.4. Doctors having institutional protocols for dealing with COVID-19 cases and those with sustained availability of PPE reported higher scores of preparedness (5.5 ± 2.3 and 6.2 ± 2.1 with p < 0.001, respectively). Correlations with knowledge score, adherence to PPE score, and psychological impacts were investigated. The study revealed multiple challenges and insufficiencies that can affect frontline doctors’ preparedness. Policy makers are urged to take these findings into consideration and to act promptly.

Keywords: pandemic preparedness; awareness; frontline doctors; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3181/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3181/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:9:p:3181-:d:353509

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().