Publication date: Jun 23, 2026
Long COVID has emerged as an important post-pandemic health challenge, yet physician awareness in low- and middle-income countries remains limited. This multicenter cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians in Pakistan regarding COVID-19 and Long COVID using an online survey conducted in 2024. A total of 117 physicians participated. While knowledge of acute COVID-19 was generally adequate, with 74. 4% achieving good scores, knowledge of Long COVID was considerably lower, with only 30. 8% demonstrating adequate understanding. Although most participants recognized common Long COVID symptoms (94. 9%), fewer correctly identified its formal definition (37. 6%). Attitudes toward COVID-19 prevention and management were largely positive (86. 3%), and most participants reported appropriate clinical practices (97. 4%). Female physicians had higher odds of adequate Long COVID knowledge, whereas those with more than 10 years of experience had significantly lower knowledge levels. These findings highlight a substantial gap in physician awareness of Long COVID despite strong preparedness for acute COVID-19. Targeted educational interventions are needed to improve recognition and management of post-COVID conditions, particularly in resource-limited settings.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Covid | attitude |
| Low | COVID-19 |
| Pakistan | health knowledge |
| Pandemic | Pakistan |
| Physicians | physicians |
| post-acute COVID-19 syndrome | |
| practice |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| disease | MESH | Long COVID |