• Rami Saadeh, Mahmoud A Alfaqih, Amjad Al-Shdaifat, Mohammad Alyahya, Nasr Alrabadi, Yousef Khader, Othman Beni Yonis, and Mohammed Z Allouh.
• Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2021 Nov 1; 75 (11): e14797.

BackgroundFollowing the remarkable spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), worldwide, it quickly became apparent that many public health systems worldwide were not prepared to manage such a pandemic. We aimed to assess the perceptions of primary care physicians (PCPs) in Jordan towards their role during COVID-19.MethodsA cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire was performed. The study participants included PCPs from the Ministry of Health, academic institutions, and the private sector in Jordan.ResultsA total of 221 PCPs participated in the study. Most participants reported not having received any training on infection control (59.7%) or COVID-19 (81%). More than half PCPs (53.4%) felt positive about the way patients received and/or complied with their instructions. More than half PCPs (55.7%) educated their patients on protective measures against COVID-19 infection and considered this as part of their role and responsibility. Over 80% of the participants would apply social distancing, hand sanitation, facial masks, and patient education, but only half (51.1%) reported planning to order COVID-19 test kits.ConclusionsPCPs had a positive attitude towards controlling COVID-19 infection and showed a willingness to educate patients on how to protect themselves. However, PCPs should be provided special training on COVID-19.© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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