Evaluation of knowledge and perceptions among medical undergraduate students toward novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Southern Haryana, India: A cross-sectional study
BACKGROUND: The year 2019–2020 has seen a worldwide pandemic resulting from corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which can result in illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome. Hence, this global health crisis of COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to inve...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Indian Journal of Health Sciences and Biomedical Research KLEU |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ijournalhs.org/article.asp?issn=2542-6214;year=2020;volume=13;issue=2;spage=91;epage=97;aulast=Singh |
| Summary: | BACKGROUND: The year 2019–2020 has seen a worldwide pandemic resulting from corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which can result in illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome. Hence, this global health crisis of COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to investigate the level of knowledge and perceptions among undergraduate medical students.
METHODS: This prospective, web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 392 undergraduate medical students after obtaining informed consent during April 2020 using a 28-items structured questionnaire with close ended responses based on World Health Organization course materials and was distributed using Google forms. All the tests were performed at a significance level of 5%.
RESULTS: More than three-fourth (82.1%) of the participants reported that they heard about COVID-19 through news media, while only less than half of the participants (44.9%) reported government official websites as information source. Overall, the study participants' knowledge regarding COVID-19 was satisfactory. Majority of the participants (94.9%) were aware of the source of COVID-19 origin as bats. Nearly half of the participants (51.9%) strongly agreed that COVID-19 is a fatal disease.
CONCLUSION: Most medical students had minimal awareness regarding the source of reliable information, with satisfactory knowledge levels, and discrepancies in the perceptions of COVID-19, thus, with adequate training and counseling undergraduate medical students via structured teaching program, most medical students can act as a potential reservoir to fill the gaps in health-care services in the hour of need. |
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| ISSN: | 2542-6214 2542-6222 |