Patient’s Perspective of Awake Proning: A Cross-Sectional Interview-Based Survey From COVID-19–Recovered Patients

Abstract

IMPORTANCE AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the patients who underwent prone positioning during their COVID-19 illness in the hospital. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. PARTICIPANTS: COVID-19–recovered patients. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Knowledge was assessed by five questions with a dichotomous response (yes/no). An yes response was awarded 1 score. Since there were five questions, five would be the highest score. Patients’ perceptions of the therapy were assessed by four questions, each scored on a Likert scale of 5 (5 = strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3 = neither agree nor disagree, 2 = disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree). As it had four questions, the maximum score achieved could therefore be 20. Proning practices were assessed using seven questions: four were used to calculate practice scores, whereas three were open-ended regarding the patient’s experience. Each question carries a different score, and the maximum score was 8. RESULTS: The study included 98 patients. The mean age of the patients was 57 years (sd, 12.2 yr). Majority of the patients were males (70.4%). 69.1% of males and 76.6% of females fell in the poor knowledge group. The poor knowledge cohort had an educational level of 48% in high school, 45.5% in graduates, and 6% in postgraduates. Compared with 56.5% of males, 73% of females preferred prone positioning. Sixty percent of those with a high school education viewed prone positioning favorably, whereas 46% of those with graduate and postgraduate did. Seventy-nine percent of males and 63% of females scored positively on the practice questionnaire. Eighty percent of graduates and postgraduates preferred proning practices to 67% of participants with high school education levels. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Our study population had a little understanding of awake proning, found it unpleasant, and practiced for a shorter period than advised. Despite the overall negative attitude toward the position, our patients highly recommend this position to future patients.