An evaluation of the knowledge and attitudes of medical students in Istanbul towards COVID-19 at the beginning of the outbreak

Year 2020, , 78 - 85, 06.12.2020

Petek Eylül Taneri

https://doi.org/10.20518/tjph.727723

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Objective: This short report examines the knowledge, attitudes and thoughts of medical students on outbreak management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between the 20th of February and the 4th of March 2020, via online survey. The study population was 593 students in a medical school. Frequency analysis, chi-square, Mann-Whitney U and binary logistic regression analyses were generated using the SPSS 23.0 software. Results: In total, the survey was completed by 285 students (48%). Mean age of the participants was 21.2±2.1 and 73% were preclinic students (1st, 2nd, and 3rd class). Of the students, 70% were taking updates from the media and 60% answered correctly that COVID-19 has a lower mortality rate compared to SARS and MERS. The most used protection amongst the respondents was hand sanitizers. Of the participants, 34% thought that COVID-19 was part of a biological war, 45% thought that the media made the outbreak look worse than reality and 43% thought they were at risk for COVID-19. Students who were Turkish citizens demonstrated less trust for information and the outbreak management processes of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health. Conclusions: The finding that most students get updates from media emphasized the importance of the effects of the media. Low trust levels of the students about the information and outbreak management of the worldwide and local health authorities should be evaluated by these organizations.

Keywords

Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, medical students

Salgının başlangıç döneminde İstanbul’da bir Tıp Fakültesi öğrencilerinin COVID-19 hakkında bilgi ve görüşlerinin değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Bu kısa rapor kapsamında, COVID-19 salgınının tıp fakültesi öğrencilerince ne kadar bilindiğinin, öğrencilerin salgına yönelik nasıl tutumlar aldıklarının ve sürecin yönetimi hakkındaki düşüncelerinin sunulması amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Kesitsel tipteki çalışma, salgının başlangıç aşamasında, 20/02/2020-04/03/2020 tarihleri arasında çevrimiçi veri toplama formu ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın evreni bir tıp fakültesindeki toplam 593 öğrencidir. SPSS 23.0 kullanılarak frekans analizleri, ki-kare analizleri, Mann-Whitney U ve Binary lojistik regresyon analizleri gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular: Toplam 285 öğrenci formu cevaplamıştır (%48). Katılımcıların yaş ortalaması 21.2±2.1’dir ve %73’ü preklinik dönem (1.,2. ve 3. sınıf) öğrencisidir. Öğrencilerin %70’i COVID-19 hakkındaki bilgileri medyadan elde etmektedir. COVID-19’un mortalite değerinin SARS ve MERS’ten düşük olduğunu %60’ı doğru olarak cevaplamıştır. En sık kullanılan korunma yöntemi el dezenfektanıdır (%66). Katılımcıların %34’ü COVID-19’un biyolojik savaşın bir parçası olduğunu, %45’i medya salgını olduğundan daha kötü gösterdiğini, %43’ü COVID-19 açısından risk altında olduğunu düşünmektedir. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti vatandaşı öğrenciler yabancılara kıyasla anlamlı olarak Dünya Sağlık Örgütü ve Sağlık Bakanlığının bilgilendirme ve salgın yönetimi süreçlerine daha az güvenmektedirler. Sonuç: Öğrencilerin çok büyük bir kısmının gelişmeleri medyadan takip etmesi salgında medyanın etkisinin önemini vurgulamaktadır. Öğrencilerin gerek dünya çapında gerek yerel sağlık otoritelerince yapılan bilgilendirme ve salgın yönetimine güven düzeyinin düşük olması ilgili kurumlarca değerlendirilmelidir.

Keywords

Koronavirüs, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, tıp öğrencileri

References

• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) pandemic: increased transmission in the EU/EEA – sixth update [online]. Available at: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/RRA-sixth-update-Outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-disease-2019-COVID-19.pdf. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• World Health Organization. Rolling updates on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-as-they-happen. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• World Health Organization. Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Sağlık Bakanlığı Halk Sağlığı Genel Müdürlüğü COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 Enfeksiyonu) Rehberi [online]. Available at: https://dosyamerkez.saglik.gov.tr/Eklenti/37044,COVID-19rehberipdf.pdf?0. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SARS Basics Fact Sheet [online]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/sars/about/fs-sars.html. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• World Health Organization. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/mers-cov/en/. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• World Health Organization. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Fact Sheet [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/middle-east-respiratory-syndrome-coronavirus-(mers-cov). Accessed October 9, 2020.
• World Health Organization. Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Situation [online]. Available at: https://covid19.who.int/. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Asian Development Bank. The 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Epidemic: A Retroactive Examination Of Economic Costs [online]. Available at: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/530216/ewp-591-sars-epidemic-2003-economic-costs.pdf. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report March 2020 [online]. Available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/oecd-economic-outlook/volume-2019/issue-2_7969896b-en;jsessionid=En6a8Y6URjAympmXmVTTivYR.ip-10-240-5-21. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• McKibbin WJ, Fernando R. The Global Macroeconomic Impacts of COVID-19: Seven Scenarios. [online]. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3547729. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Collinson S, Khan K, Heffernan JM. The effects of media reports on disease spread and important public health measurements. PloS one 2015;10(11).
• Kilgo DK, Yoo J, Johnson TJ. Spreading Ebola panic: Newspaper and social media coverage of the 2014 Ebola health crisis. Health communication 2019;34(8):811-817.
• Gilman SL. Moral panic and pandemics. The Lancet 2010;375(9729):1866-1867.
• World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: When and how to use mask [online]. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Worby CJ, Chang HH. Face mask use in the general population and optimal resource allocation during the COVID-19 pandemic. medRxiv 2020.04.04.20052696; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.04.20052696.
• Stephen AI, Avenell A. A systematic review of multivitamin and multimineral supplementation for infection. Journal of human nutrition and dietetics 2006;19(3):179-190.
• Panarese A & Shahini E. Covid‐19, and vitamin D. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2020;00:1–3.
• Grant WB, Lahore H, McDonnell SL, et al. Evidence that vitamin D supplementation could reduce risk of influenza and COVID-19 infections and deaths. Nutrients 2020; 12(4), 988.
• Cheng RZ. Can early and high intravenous dose of vitamin C prevent and treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?. Medicine in Drug Discovery 2020; 5: 100028.
• Desai AN. Discussing the ABCs of Health Security—Antibiotic Resistance, Biothreats, and Coronavirus. JAMA 2020;323(10):912-914.
• Andersen KG, Rambaut A, Lipkin WI, Holmes EC, Garry RF. The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2. Nature Medicine 2020:1-3.
• KONDA Araştırma ve Danışmanlık. Koronavirüs (COVID-19) Salgını Hakkında Bilgi Notu [online]. Available at: https://konda.com.tr/tr/duyuru/koronavirus-COVID-19-salgini-hakkinda-bilgi-notu/. Accessed October 9, 2020.
• Beyhun NE, Kosan Z, Aras A, Guraksin A, Ezmeci T. Willingness to Receive the Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccine and its Determinants among University Students during the 2009 Outbreak in Turkey. The Eurasian journal of medicine 2014;46(1):8.
• Akan H, Gurol Y, Izbirak G, et al. Knowledge and attitudes of university students toward pandemic influenza: a cross-sectional study from Turkey. BMC Public health 2010;10(1):413.
• Ozer A, Kirecci E, Ekerbicer HC, Celik M. Medical Faculty And School Of Health Student Knowledge Of And Behavior Regarding Swine Flu And Vaccine, In Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health 2011;42(1):161.
• Arda B, Durusoy R, Yamazhan T, et al. Did the pandemic have an impact on influenza vaccination attitude? A survey among health care workers. BMC infectious diseases 2011;11(1):87