Knowledge and perceptions about COVID-19 among the medical and allied health science students in India: An online cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background An infection (COVID-19) without any specific cure makes the people more vulnerable to get affected due to insufficient knowledge and unhealthy practices. In this scenario, healthcare students can act as reliable information providers. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception about COVID-19 among medical and allied health science students. Methods A web-based cross sectional survey was conducted during February and March 2020. A 24-item survey was developed and randomly distributed among the study population. Descriptive statistics was applied to represent participant characteristics and Chi-square test was used to evaluate the level of association among variables with a significance level of p < 0.01 . Results Total, 97.95% (715/730) participants completed the survey. High proportion of students were from pharmacy (45.73%) followed by medical (22.52%), physiotherapy, nursing and dental background. Majority of participants were having adequate knowledge while about 18% had partial knowledge about the symptoms of severe COVID-19 cases. Students have shown a positive perception of COVID-19 prevention and control while few invalid responses related to the use of herbal medicines or garlic were noted. About 50% had rightly stated that, the antibiotics and vaccine are not effective in COVID-19 infection at present. Conclusion As the COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing w orldwide, it is essential to improve the knowledge and beliefs among general public to prevent its spread. Health care students with their education background and basic understanding about COVID-19 can play a significant role by making community people aware about the seriousness of this pandemic situation.

A national study to assess pharmacists’ preparedness against COVID-19 during its rapid rise period in Pakistan

“…The findings of the current study demonstrated that majority of pharmacist have good knowledge toward COVID-19 (84%), which was consistent with studies reported from Pakistan (93.2%), China (84%) [ 1 ], Iran (90%) [ 17 ], but higher than Jordon (40%) [ 7 ]. Similarly, a study reported from Iran claimed that 56.5% of respondents have sufficient knowledge regarding the transmission, symptoms, and treatment of COVID-19, this number was lower as compared to our study [ 18 ].…”

Medical Students and COVID-19: Knowledge, Preventive Behaviors, and Risk Perception

“…This is also consistent with the average level of risk perception that was reported by Taghir et al [ 2 ]. In contrast, healthcare workers, as well as medical and allied health science students, exhibited positive perceptions about the pandemic, as reported by researchers in the United Arab Emirates and in India [ 1 , 9 ]. Furthermore, we also learned that the academic level was another factor that influenced risk perception, as the 4th-year students had significantly lower scores than the other groups.…”

Dietary Supplements during COVID-19 Outbreak. Results of Google Trends Analysis Supported by PLifeCOVID-19 Online Studies

“…Nevertheless, previous results showed that during the pandemic, many people worsened their diet or/and gained weight [ 24 , 25 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. Unfortunately, knowledge about COVID-19 prevention is not fully satisfactory [ 31 , 52 , 62 ] and often derives from social-media or media [ 52 , 62 ]. As it was previously described, Internet information about methods of COVID-19 prevention and treatment, or immune system boosting, including the use of DSs, varies significantly depending on the type of website (e.g., governmental or commercial) and sometimes has an inadequate quality or even presents potentially harmful information quite often [ 14 , 15 , 50 , 63 ].…”