Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

When the Danger Is Not on the Record: Physicians’ Willingness to Work with Patients Not Yet Diagnosed with COVID-19

Tudor-Ștefan Rotaru
ORCID logo ,
Daniela Cojocaru
,
Stefan Cojocaru
ORCID logo ,
Ovidiu Alexinschi
* ,
Aida Puia
,
Liviu Oprea
Version 1 : Received: 30 October 2023 / Approved: 30 October 2023 / Online: 30 October 2023 (13:51:47 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Rotaru, T.-Ș.; Cojocaru, D.; Cojocaru, Ș.; Alexinschi, O.; Puia, A.; Oprea, L. Assessment of Physicians’ Willingness to Work with Patients Not Yet Diagnosed with COVID-19 in a Romanian Sample. Healthcare 2024, 12, 161. Rotaru, T.-Ș.; Cojocaru, D.; Cojocaru, Ș.; Alexinschi, O.; Puia, A.; Oprea, L. Assessment of Physicians’ Willingness to Work with Patients Not Yet Diagnosed with COVID-19 in a Romanian Sample. Healthcare 2024, 12, 161.

Abstract

Background: The risk to physicians who worked with patients without confirmed COVID-19 testing during the pandemic has been little studied. However, they were at high risk. Methods: A total of 1285 Romanian physicians completed an online survey. We performed Mann-Whitney comparisons between physicians who reported that they knowingly had direct contact with COVID patients and those who didn't regarding their willingness to work. Results: Compared with their colleagues, physicians who reported not knowingly having direct contact with COVID patients reported less access to protective equipment, less overall willingness to respond when asked to work with infected patients, more likely to work out of fear of losing their jobs, and fear of legal repercussions. They received less training in the use of protective equipment. Conclusions: Physicians who worked with patients not yet diagnosed with COVID-19 were significantly less willing to work. The perception of invisible risk may explain the observed differences.

Keywords

willingness to work; COVID-19; personal protective equipment

Subject

Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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