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Knowledge, Preparedness, and Attitude Towards COVID-19 Among Health Profession Students in Africa: A Cross-Sectional Survey
26 Pages Posted: 28 Jun 2021
More...Abstract
Background: The possible role of health profession students in the prevention and control of large-scale infectious disease outbreaks such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been minimally investigated. Therefore, we aimed to assess the knowledge, preparedness, and attitude of these students towards the COVID-19 outbreak in Africa.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used convenience sampling to recruit health profession students from institutions associated with the African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth). We developed a survey in QuestionPro software with questions covering the participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and preparedness towards the COVID-19 outbreak. Data were statistically analysed and the results frequency association between variables was tested
Results: Of the 336 students, (88·7%) were undergraduates, with 25·75 (±7·88) years. Most (99·7%) knew that COVID-19 was caused by a virus were transmitted via droplets (97·3%) and close contact with infected persons (85·1%). Several participants declared that they would adhere to preventive measures (92·3%) and claimed their curriculum was adequate to equip them with skills to address infectious disease outbreaks (63·6%). Nursing students were better prepared than other health profession students (p=0·001). Students from the West African regions were more prepared (p=0·001) and aware they could contract COVID-19 if they cared for infected persons (p=0·001).
Interpretation: Students are highly knowledgeable about COVID-19, adequately prepared to handle epidemics through their curriculum, have attitude towards their training institutions and government has taken adequate measure address the COVID-19 outbreak.
Funding: AFREhealth
Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests.
Ethical Approval: Approval to collect data was obtained from the ethical committees of the participating institutions. Permission was also obtained from the school heads and written informed consent was obtained from individual participants.
Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, preparedness, COVID-19, Health profession students
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