Abstract: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Infect Dis Clin Microbiol 2022; 4(4): 236-43 Analysis of the Prophylactic use of Hydroxychloroquine at the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Physicians Mehmet Gökhan Gönenli1 , İlker Kayı2 , Nilüfer Alpay Kanıtez1 , Tuba Baydaş3 , Murat Köse4 Nalbantoğlu1 , Miraç Vural Keskinler5 , Timur Selçuk Akpınar4 , Önder Ergönül6,7 , Emine Ayça ¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Koç University Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey 2 Department of Public Health, Koç University Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey 3 Department of Internal Medicine, Bezmialem University Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey 4 Department of Internal Medicine, İstanbul University İstanbul School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey 5 Department of Internal Medicine, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Göztepe Education and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey 6 Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Koç University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey 7 Koç University İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases, Istanbul, Turkey ABSTRACT Objective: Throughout the pandemic, physicians working at the frontlines have embarked on various quests to protect themselves, and many physicians preferred using hydroxychloroquine (HQN) as a prophylactic agent. This study aimed to investigate the reasons leading physicians to use HQN and its effects on them. Materials and Methods: This study is cross-sectional with a target population of physicians working in pandemic hospitals in İstanbul, Turkey. We invited participants from seven hospitals via email between May 14 and June 13, 2020. An online questionnaire, including 57 questions, was sent to physicians. Results: A total of 148 (26%) physicians out of 564 participants had used hydroxychloroquine for prevention. Older physicians and those with a history of exposure to COVID-19 patients without protection used prophylactic HQN more frequently. The use of HQN did not differ statistically in terms of being infected among the exposed physicians (p=0.52). Nineteen (13%) physicians using HQN developed side effects related to the drug. Diarrhea and nausea were the most common. Conclusion: Prophylactic HQN use was more common among physicians older than 40 years and with higher exposure rates to a COVID-19 patient without protection. The physicians working on the front line had the highest rate of infection. HQN was not effective in the prophylaxis of COVID-19 among the exposed physicians. Keywords: COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine, prophylaxis, physicians Corresponding Author: İlker Kayı E-mail: ikayi@ku.edu.tr Received: December 6, 2021 Accepted: November 22, 2022 Published: December 21, 2022 Suggested citation: Gönenli MG, Kayı İ, Alpay Kanıtez N, Baydaş T, Köse M, Nalbantoğlu EA, et al. Analysis of the prophylactic use of hydroxychloroquine at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic among physicians. Infect Dis Clin Microbiol. 2022;4:236-43. DOI: 10.36519/idcm.2022.111 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. 236 HQN use among physicians during the pandemic