A cross sectional study of knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students regarding COVID-19 in Northern India

Prerna Ahuja 1, Jaspreet Kaur 1, Deepika Puri 2, Pravin Meshram 3, Prithpal Singh Matreja 4 * , Jayballabh Kumar 1
More Detail
1 Department of Physiology, Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Center, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
2 Department of Physiology, Goverment Medical College and Hospital, Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India
3 Department of Community Medicine, Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Center, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
4 Department of Pharmacology, Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Center, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
* Corresponding Author
J CLIN MED KAZ, Volume 20, Issue 2, pp. 26-32. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/13139
OPEN ACCESS 1453 Views 1031 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Background: Practicing preventive measures essential to control the spread of infection and possessing the required knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 could possibly affect the behavior and perception of medical students towards the disease which must be observed and studied. Studies have been conducted to assess medical students’ willingness to volunteer in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but not many have focused on their level of pandemic preparedness and eligibility to volunteer. Our study explored the knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students, and also helps to develop effective action plans regarding the reopening of medical colleges in India.
Material and methods: This cross-sectional observational study was done in a tertiary care center in North India on Medical and Dental undergraduate students spanning across all professional years after they gave a written informed consent. A self-designed questionnaire was established based on published literature. The study questionnaire consisted of four sections - socio-demographics of students, knowledge, attitudes/beliefs and practice-based statements about COVID-19.
Results: 238 students participated in this study and for majority (79.4%) of students the major source of information for gaining knowledge towards COVID-19 was social media. All students were aware that COVID-19 spreads through droplet infection, 94.1% responded that people with chronic illnesses were at high-risk of infection and 91.2% and 88.2% reported that fever and dry cough were the main symptoms of COVID-19 respectively. The majority of students disagreed that they would avoid isolation (n=147), and the students also disagreed on aspect of keeping the report confidential if a near one is affected (n=140). Though there were no statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in the level of knowledge, attitude and practices found between students studying in different professional years.
Conclusion: To conclude, the results of our study showed that major source of information for gaining knowledge for COVID-19, was through social media. The students demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge, attitude and practices for the prevention of COVID-19.
Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, practice, medical students, pandemic

CITATION

Ahuja P, Kaur J, Puri D, Meshram P, Matreja PS, Kumar J. A cross sectional study of knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students regarding COVID-19 in Northern India. J CLIN MED KAZ. 2023;20(2):26-32. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/13139

REFERENCES

  • Khasawneh AI, Humeidan AA, Alsulaiman JW, Bloukh S, Ramadan M, Al-Shatanawi TN, et.al. Medical Students and COVID-19: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Precautionary Measures. A Descriptive Study from Jordan. Front. Public Health. 2020;8:253. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00253
  • Cui J, Li F, Shi Z-L. Origin and evolution of pathogenic coronaviruses. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2019;17(3):181–92. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-018-0118-9
  • Li F. Structure, function, and evolution of coronavirus spike proteins. Ann Rev Virol. 2016;3:237–61. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-virology-110615-042301
  • Zeng ZQ, Chen DH, Tan WP, Qiu SY, Xu D, Liang HX, et.al. Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of human coronaviruses OC43, 229E, NL63, and HKU1: A study of hospitalized children with acute respiratory tract infection in Guangzhou, China. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2018;37(2):363–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-017-3144-z
  • Neher RA, Dyrdak R, Druelle V, Hodcroft EB, Albert J. Potential impact of seasonal forcing on a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20224. https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2020.20224
  • Song Z, Xu Y, Bao L, Zhang L, Yu P, Qu Y, et al. From SARS to MERS, thrusting coronaviruses into the spotlight. Viruses. 2019;11(1):59. https://doi.org/10.3390/v11010059
  • De Wit E, Van Doremalen N, Falzarano D, Munster VJ. SARS and MERS: Recent insights into emerging coronaviruses. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016;14:523–34. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2016.81
  • Peng Y, Pei C, Zheng Y, Wang J, Zhang K, Zheng Z, et.al. A cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitude and practice associated with Covid-19 among undergraduate students in China. BMC Public Health. 2020;20:1292. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09392-z
  • Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, Li X, Yang B, Song J, et.al. A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(8):727–33. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001017
  • World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Papua New Guinea Situation Report 6. Available at url: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/countries/papua-new-guinea/covid-19/png-covid-19-health-situation-report-06.pdf Last Accessed 4th November, 2022.
  • Wang C, Horby PW, Hayden FG, Gao GF. A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):470–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30185-9
  • World Health Organization. Listing of WHO’s response to COVID-19. Available at url: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/29-06-2020-covidtimeline Last accessed 4th November, 2022.
  • Joshi R, Takhar R, Jain S. Knowledge, Attitude and Practices associated with COVID-19 among Undergraduate medical students of Rajasthan. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2021;8:712-6. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20210226
  • Mandal S, Bhatnagar T, Arinaminpathy N, Agarwal A, Chowdhury A, et.al. Prudent public health intervention strategies to control the coronavirus disease 2019 transmission in India: A mathematical model-based approach. Indian J Med Res. 2020;151(2&3):190-9. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_504_20
  • An PL, Huynh G, Nguyen HTN, Pham BDU, Nguyen TY, Tran TTT, et.al. Knowledge, attitude and practice towards Covid-19 among healthcare students in Vietnam. Infection and Drug Resistance. 2021;14:3405–13. Vietnam. Infection and Drug Resistance. 2021;14:3405-13. https://doi.org/10.2147/IDR.S328677
  • Alqahtani JS, Oyelade T, Aldhahir AM, Alghamdi SM, Almehmadi M, Alqahtani AS, et.al. Prevalence, severity and mortality associated with COPD and smoking in patients with COVID-19: A rapid systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2020;15(5):e0233147. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233147
  • Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q, Jones FK, Zheng Q, Meredith HR, et.al. The incubation period of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) from publicly reported confirmed cases: Estimation and application. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172(9):577–82. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-0504
  • Kimball A, Hatfield KM, Arons M, James A, Taylor J, Spicer K, et.al. Asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections in residents of a long-term care skilled nursing facility - King County, Washington, March 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(13):377–81. https://doi.org/10.15 585/mmwr.mm6913e1
  • World Health Organization. Advice for the public: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Available at url: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public Last accessed 4th November, 2022.
  • Maheshwari S, Gupta PK, Sinha R, Rawat P. Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among medical students: A cross-sectional study. J Acute Dis. 2020;9(3):100-4. https://doi.org/10.4103/2221-6189.283886
  • Sondakh JJJ, Warastuti W, Susatia B, Wildan M, Sunindya BR, Budiyanto MAK, et.al. Indonesia medical students knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward Covid-19. Heliyon. 2022;8:e08686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08686
  • Chandler CIR. Knowledge, attitudes, and practice surveys. In: The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2018;pp. 1–2.
  • Raina S. Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice in health care delivery. N Am J Med Sci. 2013;5(3):249-50. https://doi.org/10.4103/1947-2714.109226
  • Andrade C, Menon V, Ameen S, Praharaj SK. Designing and conducting knowledge, attitude, and practice surveys in psychiatry: Practical guidance. Indian J Psychol Med. 2020;42(5):478–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620946111
  • Gohel KH, Patel PB, Shah PM, Patel JR, Pandit N, Raut A. Knowledge and perceptions about COVID-19 among the medical and allied health science students in India: An online cross-sectional survey. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2021:9:104–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cegh.2020.07.008
  • Noreen K, Rubab Z, Umar M, Rehman R, Baig M, Baig F. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices against the growing threat of COVID-19 among medical students of Pakistan. PLoS One. 2020;15(12):e0243696. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243696
  • Padmanaban S, Rajendran P, Davis P, Velayutham P. Knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19 among higher education students in India: a cross sectional study. Journal of Public Health: From Theory to Practice (Published Online: 13th may, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-021-01561-7