PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Avneet Kumar AU - Vinita Jindal AU - Tanvir Sidhu AU - Avtar Singh Bansal AU - Prabhjot Kaur AU - Gurmeet Kaur AU - Hem Chandra Sati TI - Late Breaking Abstract - Knowledge, anxiety and use of hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis among healthcare students and professionals regarding COVID-19 pandemic in India: An observational cross-sectional study AID - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.3588 DP - 2020 Sep 07 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 3588 VI - 56 IP - suppl 64 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/3588.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/3588.full SO - Eur Respir J2020 Sep 07; 56 AB - Background: Limited data is available about knowledge, anxiety and use of HCQ prophylaxis among health care personnels in India related to COVID-19 pandemicMethods: A cross-sectional study was done in May 2020, using a validated questionnaire comprised of 28 questions at a tertairy care health-care center in IndiaResults: A total 957 respondents were included (10.2% nurses, 45.2% medical students, 24.3% paramedical students, 11.7% residents and 8.6% faculty). Overall knowledge score was 9.3/15; highest for preventive practices (4/5), followed by clinical knowledge (2.7/5) and use of Personal Protective Equipment (2.6/5). Overall score was higher in faculty (10.8), least in nurses (8.5) & paramedical students (8.4) [p <.001]. Less than 50% had knowledge about correct sequence of doffing PPE and use of N95 mask. Using GAD-7 scale, 21.8% experienced anxiety, highest among nurses (38%), followed by paramedical students (29.3%), residents (21.3%), faculty (18.3%), medical students (14.8%); and anxiety was higher when knowledge score was low (27.6% vs 14.7%); both factor significant on multivariate analysis (p <.001). Most common reasons for anxiety was no definite cure, fear of getting infection & lot of misinformation in media. HCQ prophylaxis was taken by 18.1% respondents which was significantly higher among older age group(p<.001), faculty(p<.001) and having family member <5/>65 years age at home on multivariate analysis (p<.001)Conclusions: The lower COVID-19 knowledge scores were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of anxiety and potentially dangerous practices towards COVID-19 epidemicFootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 3588.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).