Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak

Objectives During the COVID-19 home-quarantines home care services may act as an auxiliary component of health care system which reduces the burden on the formal health care system This study aimed to investigate the status of informal home care provided for home quarantined patients with COVID-19 in southwest Iran Methods This descriptive study was conducted on 288 patients with COVID-19 in Ahvaz southwest Iran Inclusion criteria included a known case of COVID-19 willingness to participate in the study recommendation of home quarantine from a health center having a smartphone and fluency in reading and writing in Persian and the exclusion criterion was a history of COVID-19 longer than 3 months The data collection method was structured interviews based on a questionnaire face-to-face-telephone calls-video call SPSS software was used for the analysis of data Results 45 5 of the participants in the study were women with a mean age of 37 82 10 48 and 55 5 were men with a mean age of 36 12 11 93 Findings showed that in most cases the spouse 61 4 is responsible for the care of the patient and in other cases parents are responsible for this duty 57 3 of the patients stated that they themselves had to leave home to provide for necessities of life and 37 2 stated that they were in charge of cooking 47 9 of the patients evaluated the quality of quality of care provided at home as good Most of patients and caregivers referred to hospital for getting information 35 8 patients and 34 caregivers Most of patients recovered from diseases 60 8 and 39 2 were hospitalized Although 43 9 of men and 33 6 of women were hospitalized and a there was a significant difference between men and women P 0 04 Conclusion During COVID-19 pandemic home care to reduce the burden on the health system are very important We must also know that this type of care requires informed and planned support and sufficient community education The health care system needs to put self-care and family care among its top priorities The focus should be on educational and mental support of informal caregivers along with measures that protect their relatives from COVID-19

Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak

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Home care in COVID-19 patients with the home-quarantined condition: A study from Iran