THE ROLE OF A WHATSAPP CLINICAL DISCUSSION GROUP IN THE CLINICAL MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 CASES: AN EXPERIENCE OF TERTIARY CARE HOSPITALS IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Objective: To assess the usefulness of the Whatsapp group made for managing the patients of COVID-19 at different govt. sector hospitals of Sahiwal, Punjab.

Study Design: A web-based cross-sectional analytical survey.

Place and Duration of Study: Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal, from Jun to Jun 2020.

Methodology: A validated questionnaire was distributed among 95 members of the Whatsapp group at Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal. Results were assessed by using SPSS version-24.

Results: The response rate of our study was 75.78%. Most were younger than 30 years of age (69.40%) and majority (80.60%) belonged to clinical departments. Out of 58 clinical side doctors, 44 (75.86) belonged to medicine and allied departments while 14 (24.14%) belong to surgery and allied departments. Results showed that the helpful discussion in the group increased the confidence of the participants by 4.24 times with 95% C.I. of
2.76 to 6.52. Speedy management of the patients due to Whatsapp group also increased the confidence of the study participants by 6.30 times with 95% C.I. of 2.03 to 19.49. Discussions on Whatsapp group and increase in knowledge of participants related to COVID-19 through Whatsapp also helped participants to speed up the management of the patients by 3.77 times with 95% C.I. of 2.54 to 5.61.

Conclusion: Hence our study concludes that the usefulness of the Whatsapp group for management of COVID-19 patients was very well perceived by our survey population. It increased their confidence in managing the patients of COVID-19.