Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey
Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created fear, misconceptions, and apprehensions among the public including the youth of the society. We evaluated and compared the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 among undergraduate medical and engineering students of India. Methods...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Applied Sciences and Clinical Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jascp.org/article.asp?issn=2772-364X;year=2023;volume=4;issue=2;spage=86;epage=93;aulast=Priyadarshini |
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| author | Bhagyajyoti Priyadarshini Himel Mondal Shiba Sai Swarup Joshil Kumar Behera Akankhya Panigrahi Ankan Basu |
| author_facet | Bhagyajyoti Priyadarshini Himel Mondal Shiba Sai Swarup Joshil Kumar Behera Akankhya Panigrahi Ankan Basu |
| author_sort | Bhagyajyoti Priyadarshini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created fear, misconceptions, and apprehensions among the public including the youth of the society. We evaluated and compared the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 among undergraduate medical and engineering students of India. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was carried out on Indian undergraduate medical and engineering students in September 2020. A prevalidated and pretested questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaire had eight items for knowledge, six items for attitudes, and four for practices. A snowball sampling method was used to collect data. Results: A total of 1757 (1137 [64.71%] medical, 620 [35.29%] engineering) Indian students participated in the study. The overall scores of knowledge were 5.77 ± 1.2, the attitude was 5.06 ± 0.83, and practices were 2.32 ± 0.93 (analysis of variance P < 0.0001). There was no gender difference in knowledge, attitude, or practice. The medical student scored higher in knowledge (P < 0.0001) and attitude (P < 0.0001) compared to engineering students. Medical students showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.13, P < 0.001) of attitude with semester of study. Engineering students showed significant positive correlation of knowledge (r = 0.12, P = 0.002) and practice (r = 0.11, P = 0.008) with semester of study. Conclusion: Indian medical and engineering students had a good level of knowledge and positive attitudes towards COVID-19. Although medical students scored higher in knowledge and attitude, the practice showed no difference. The practice scores were the lowest among the three parameters. This reaffirms the need for more strategic planning to ensure good practices among students of both the major sectors of science. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:43:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a77bb35dc9ee4e918f8406f0a905ab25 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-364X 2772-3658 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:43:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Applied Sciences and Clinical Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-a77bb35dc9ee4e918f8406f0a905ab252023-10-26T08:51:15ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Applied Sciences and Clinical Practice2772-364X2772-36582023-01-0142869310.4103/jascp.jascp_5_22Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online surveyBhagyajyoti PriyadarshiniHimel MondalShiba Sai SwarupJoshil Kumar BeheraAkankhya PanigrahiAnkan BasuBackground: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has created fear, misconceptions, and apprehensions among the public including the youth of the society. We evaluated and compared the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 among undergraduate medical and engineering students of India. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was carried out on Indian undergraduate medical and engineering students in September 2020. A prevalidated and pretested questionnaire was used in this study. The questionnaire had eight items for knowledge, six items for attitudes, and four for practices. A snowball sampling method was used to collect data. Results: A total of 1757 (1137 [64.71%] medical, 620 [35.29%] engineering) Indian students participated in the study. The overall scores of knowledge were 5.77 ± 1.2, the attitude was 5.06 ± 0.83, and practices were 2.32 ± 0.93 (analysis of variance P < 0.0001). There was no gender difference in knowledge, attitude, or practice. The medical student scored higher in knowledge (P < 0.0001) and attitude (P < 0.0001) compared to engineering students. Medical students showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.13, P < 0.001) of attitude with semester of study. Engineering students showed significant positive correlation of knowledge (r = 0.12, P = 0.002) and practice (r = 0.11, P = 0.008) with semester of study. Conclusion: Indian medical and engineering students had a good level of knowledge and positive attitudes towards COVID-19. Although medical students scored higher in knowledge and attitude, the practice showed no difference. The practice scores were the lowest among the three parameters. This reaffirms the need for more strategic planning to ensure good practices among students of both the major sectors of science.http://www.jascp.org/article.asp?issn=2772-364X;year=2023;volume=4;issue=2;spage=86;epage=93;aulast=Priyadarshiniattitudecovid-19engineering studentsknowledgemedical studentspractice |
| spellingShingle | Bhagyajyoti Priyadarshini Himel Mondal Shiba Sai Swarup Joshil Kumar Behera Akankhya Panigrahi Ankan Basu Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey Journal of Applied Sciences and Clinical Practice attitude covid-19 engineering students knowledge medical students practice |
| title | Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey |
| title_full | Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey |
| title_short | Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices of Indian medical and engineering students on COVID-19: A nation-wide online survey |
| title_sort | assessment of knowledge attitude and practices of indian medical and engineering students on covid 19 a nation wide online survey |
| topic | attitude covid-19 engineering students knowledge medical students practice |
| url | http://www.jascp.org/article.asp?issn=2772-364X;year=2023;volume=4;issue=2;spage=86;epage=93;aulast=Priyadarshini |
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