Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Medical Interns Toward COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey, April-May 2020

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is a highly infectious, rapidly spreading disease without any proven vaccine or treatment. Poor knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward COIVD-19 prevention measures among healthcare workers may lead to further transmission of the disease. Lack of attention towards non-frontline healthcare workers may put them at higher risk of infection from undetected cases. Here, we evaluate medical interns’ KAP toward COVID-19 prevention measures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey. We distributed a structured questionnaire to the medical interns through different social media. Data was collected between April and May 2020. We estimated the prevalence of good KAP toward COVID-19 prevention measures. We did T-test or ANOVA to investigate the mean differences in KAP between socio-demographic groups. In addition, we did multivariable logistic regression analysis to investigate the socio-demographic determinants of good KAP.Results: Of the total 250 participants, 60% were males, 64% were aged between 20 and 25 years, and 90% was Saudi. 24% interns are relying on social media, newspaper, television or friends as primary source of COVID-19 information, while others are relying on formal sources like official websites of national and international bodies. Overall, the prevalence of good knowledge, attitude and practices are 38% (95% CI: 32.2-44.2), 55.2% (48.9-61.3) and 24% (19.1-29.7), respectively. Graduating from government universities are associated with higher odds of good knowledge (aOR: 3.87; 95% CI: 1.05-14.22) and positive attitude (aOR: 4.84; 95% CI: 1.28-18.23) than private or foreign universities. While, practicing in the west region-Mecca and Medina (aOR: 2.35; 95% CI: 1.05-5.23); and the North region-Hail, Jouf, Tabuk & Northern borders (aOR: 3.2; 95% CI: 1.32-7.75) are associated to higher odds of moderate/good practice compared to practicing in the central region- Riyadh and Qassim. Conclusions: Our findings reveal gaps in KAP among medical interns. Medical interns in Saudi Arabia are not deployed as front-line health worker to combat COVID-19. However, community transmission of COVID-19 make it critical to improve KAP of medical interns toward COVID-19 prevention measures. Repeated training to improve KAP and competency of the medical interns in this regard are warranted.

Dental Professional’s Knowledge, Preventive Awareness and Attitude Towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…16 Many dental practices have modified their services according to the recommended guidelines to emergency treatment only or closed down practices for an uncertain period. 20 COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease requiring stringent infection control. A high level of knowledge is essential and must be maintained to minimize disease spread in dental health care facilities and the community.…”

“…Most of the previous investigations on this topic were mainly included, dental students and faculties. 16 , 19 , 20 Only limited studies reported dental practitioners and dental students’ perspectives on COVID-19. Hence present study assessed dental professionals’ knowledge, preventive awareness, and attitude towards providing dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.…”

Experience and Perceptions of Medical and Dental Interns on the Effects of the COVID- 19 Pandemic on their Internship Program- A Questionnaire Based Study in Makkah Region of Saudi Arabia

“…In this current study, we kept a 95% level of confidence and precision error of 5% and the sample size was selected based on the formula by Charan J and Biswas [20]. (Z1-α/22P (1-P) d2 where Z1-α/2 = standard normal variate (at 5% type 1 error (P<0.05), it is 1.96 and at 1% type 1 error (p<0.01) P= expected proportion (400 participants including medical and dental interns) in population based on previous studies [21,22,23,24] for pilot studies and d= absolute error or precision. Sample size for our study was 453.…”

“…Based on that, an open ended questionnaire was formulated in English and Arabic languages consisting of 15 questions. The questions were sourced from the previous studies [21,22,23]. Pilot study was conducted on 15 medical interns and 15 dental interns respectively in Makkah region.…”

A cross-sectional study on awareness, attitude and perception of COVID 19 among the people of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…According to the WHO as on 2 nd October 2020, the morbidity rate is 34,079,542 and mortality rate is 1,015,963. Among them, 22,051,879 patients have been recovered from illness (5) . According to UN data, the population of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was estimated at 34,813,871 at mid-year of 2020 and it has 13 provinces.…”