Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward mucormycosis among patients presenting to six tertiary eye care hospitals in South India – A multicentric online questionnaire-based survey

Abstract

Purpose: To study the awareness on mucormycosis among outpatients who visited six tertiary eye care hospitals at Madurai, Pondicherry, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Chennai, and Tirupati. Methods: This was a telephone-based survey conducted using questionnaires consisting of 38 questions in five sections from July 5 to 25, 2021. Patients visiting the eye hospitals for an examination were contacted over their phones and responses were directly entered onto the Google forms platform. Results: A total of 4573 participants were included in the study. Among all participants, a cumulative 83% of participants had some knowledge of mucormycosis. More than 80% of them reported that their prime source of information was through mass communication like television or radio. Around 34.8% of the respondents were aware that it can occur after treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, only half of them (54.3%) knew that systemic steroids were the main risk factor. The knowledge scores were higher for participants who were diabetics ( n = 1235) or had been affected by COVID-19 earlier ( n = 456) or whose friends had mucormycosis earlier ( n = 312). Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) scores of nonprofessional health-care workers ( n = 103) were much better compared to patients. Conclusion: Such KAP studies give us an idea of the impact of the measures taken for educating the public. In this study, a cumulative 83% of participants had some knowledge of mucormycosis and 86% knew that this was an emergency. More than 50% of the participants were not aware that diabetes is a risk factor for mucormycosis.

Mucormycosis related knowledge among a sample of the general population in Egypt

“…According to Figure 2, participants with a university education had a higher median total percent score (p-value 0.001). The current study found that there is low knowledge score as the median knowledge percent score of the studied population was 58 (IQR 38-79), which is in same line with research performed in India assessing attitude, knowledge, and practice toward mucormycosis in cases presenting to six tertiary eye care hospitals [19] and also similar to results of study conducted in Bangladesh [20]. Thus, the government should initiate a comprehensive awareness campaign on social media and the mainstream media to increase knowledge and awareness of the general population regarding the mode of transmission, symptoms, and preventive measures of mucormycosis.…”

“…This was less than the previously mentioned results in the Indian study, as 40% of the respondents said that the route of entry for CAM was through the nasal system. About 34% of respondents stated that the eye was the route of entry for CAM and 16.5% for lungs [19]. In the current study, there was adequate knowledge about symptoms of mucormycosis.…”

“…In the current study, there was adequate knowledge about symptoms of mucormycosis. In India, it was found that around 55% identified that swollen eyes, the formation of black spots, and infection of the brain are the symptoms of CAM [19].…”

Exploring the Knowledge Regarding Mucormycosis and Its Management Among a Cohort of Dental Undergraduates in India: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…When the knowledge of mucormycosis was analyzed, it was noted that the majority of students know that "COVID-19 patients on steroid therapy are more prone to mucor infection" suggesting of steroid treatment was a risk factor during the treatment of COVID-19 patients. These findings do concur with a multicentric study conducted by Jayagayathri et al [11] among patients attending tertiary care hospitals in South India. However, in one previous systematic review and meta-analysis of case reports by Jeong et al [16] it has been described that corticosteroid use did not appear to be an independent risk factor.…”

“…These cases were found to be approaching dentists more comparatively than general physicians because of the area of involvement. Few studies have evaluated the cognizance level of mucormycosis among medical professionals [ 9 ], nursing students [ 10 ], and the general population [ 11 ], not one research so far has interrogated the same among dental undergraduates, especially interns. For these reasons, the present study was designed to ascertain knowledge about mucormycosis and its management among a sample of both government and private dental college undergraduates in India.…”