Evaluating the effects of common health instructions and proceedings on covid-19 prevention

Abstract

Introduction: Some health instructions and proceedings were widely broadcasted and advised by scientific centers and social media concerning coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention, in the early days of the epidemic Almost all of them had been sourced from narrative statements or non-evidence based sciences Herein, we intended to deeply investigate the usefulness and efficiency of such recommendation on COVID-19 prevention Materials and Methods: Ninety-seven reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed positive COVID-19 individuals as case and 103 suffering from other diseases as control group were enrolled To collect the data, an expert validated questionnaire encompassed demographic information, past medical history and pre-infection preventive proceedings (consumption of vitamin D3, C, and zinc supplement, wearing face masks and gloves, hand washing, keeping at least 1 5 m distance with other people and staying at home) was used The data between two groups were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 Results: No significant difference was obtained in zinc consumption between case and control groups (14 (14 4%) vs 16 (15 5%), OR=0 88, CI= 0 66-1 31) Consumption of vitamins D3 and C was significantly higher in patients suffering from COVID-19 compared to non-COVID-19 patients, [(60 (61 9%) vs 47 (45 6%), OR=1 28, CI=1 12-1 48) for vitamin D3 and (54 (52 4%) vs 47 (48 4%), OR=1 15, CI=1 01=1 31)] Hand and face hygiene was significantly more observed in non-COVID-19 patients group (77 (79 3%) vs 96 (93 2%), OR=0 82, CI=0 71-0 93) Home quarantine and keeping social distance were also significantly higher in non-COVID-19 patients group Conclusions: General protective proceedings have significant protective roles against COVID-19 © 2020 The Author(s)