COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices of United Arab Emirates medical and health sciences students: A cross sectional study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest viral pandemic of the 21st century. We aimed to study COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among medical and health sciences students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We performed a cross-sectional study between 2 June and 19 August 2020. The survey was distributed online using Survey Monkey. It was conducted in English and comprised two parts: socio-demographic characteristics, and KAP towards COVID-19. 712 responses to the questionnaire were collected. 90% of respondents (n = 695) were undergraduate students, while 10% (n = 81) were postgraduates. The majority (87%, n = 647) stated that they obtained COVID-19 information from multiple reliable sources. They were highly knowledgeable about the COVID-19 pandemic, but 76% (n = 539) did not recognize its routes of transmission. Medical students were significantly more knowledgeable compared with allied health students (P<0.0001, Mann Whitney U test) but there was no difference in knowledge between undergraduate and postgraduate students (P = 0.14, Mann Whitney U test). Medical students thought that more could be done to mitigate the COVID-19 situation compared with the allied health students (66.2% compared with 51.6%, p = 0.002 Fisher’s Exact test). 63% (n = 431) were worried about getting COVID-19 infection, while 92% (n = 633)) were worried that a family member could be infected with the virus. 97% (n = 655) took precautions when accepting home deliveries, 94% (n = 637) had been washing their hands more frequently, and 95% (n = 643) had been wearing face masks. In conclusion, medical and health sciences students in the UAE showed high levels of knowledge and good attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, they were worried about themselves or their family members becoming infected. Medical students had more knowledge about COVID-19 pandemic which was reflected in their opinion that more can be done to mitigate its effects.

COVID-19 health awareness among the United Arab Emirates population

“…This also consistent with similar demographics of participants of surveys collected via online platforms [ 14 ]. Similar to our results reported that 86.0% of medical and health sciences students and 80.6% of the university students in UAE were females [ 15 , 16 ]. This study demonstrated that UAE population and residents have a good to excellent knowledge about COVID-19 and were aware of right practices to avoid the infection and its spread.…”

Use of Respiratory Protection Devices by Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The majority of other inhabitants surveyed in Bangladesh (98.7%), 71.2% of whom were students, wore face masks [ 37 ]. This was 99.5% in Vietnam [ 38 ] and 95.0% in the United Arab Emirates [ 39 ]. At the same time, only 62.8% of the medical students surveyed in Poland wore face masks [ 36 ], 71% in Pakistan [ 40 ], 69% in Congo [ 9 ], and 58.1% in Nigeria [ 41 ].…”

COVID-19 Pandemic—Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviours, and Actions among Faculty of Health Sciences Students

“…An interesting aspect of the research is comparing the knowledge of students of particular faculties. In studies from Omam, India, and the Arab Emirates, the level of knowledge of medical students and students of health sciences was compared, showing a higher level of knowledge among medical students [14][15][16]. An interesting aspect of our study is comparing the knowledge test scores of the different health sciences faculties and finding that midwifery students possessed a higher level of knowledge than nursing and emergency medical services students.…”

“…Sixty percent (n = 407/677) of students did not attend family gatherings and did not visit shopping malls, cafes, industrial areas, hospitals, or COVID-19 facilities as part of their volunteer work. Ninety-seven percent of subjects (n = 655) took precautions when taking home deliveries, 94% (n = 637) washed their hands more frequently, and 95% (n = 643) wore face masks [16].…”