Knowledge, preventive behavior and risk perception regarding COVID-19: a self-reported study on college students.
Adolescent
Adult
COVID-19
/ prevention & control
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disease Outbreaks
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Libya
Male
Perception
Self Report
Students
/ statistics & numerical data
Students, Medical
/ statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires
Universities
Young Adult
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
awareness
behavior
knowledge
pandemic
public health
Journal
The Pan African medical journal
ISSN: 1937-8688
Titre abrégé: Pan Afr Med J
Pays: Uganda
ID NLM: 101517926
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2020
2020
Historique:
received:
17
05
2020
accepted:
27
05
2020
entrez:
24
2
2021
pubmed:
25
2
2021
medline:
3
3
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
There are a limited number of studies on the issues associated with the knowledge and self-practice preventive measures for COVID-19 among medical students. We aimed to determine the extent of knowledge, self-reported preventive behavior, and risk perception of the COVID-19 outbreak among college students in Libya. A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 20 to April 30, 2020. The participants were students of medical and non-medical subjects from Libyan educational institutes. Data on participants' characteristics, knowledge, preventive behavior, and risk perception were collected. Approximately 3669 participants completed the questionnaire, of which 2547 (69.4) were medical students and 1122 (30.6%) were non-medical students. The mean knowledge score on COVID-19 was 8.62 (SD: 1.26, range: 0-12), corresponding to 71.8% correct answers. A significant difference was observed between medical and non-medical students in terms of knowledge (p < 0.001). Overall, the knowledge score of the students differed significantly with respect to age, current year of study, and financial source (p < 0.05). The mean score of preventive behavioral measures toward COVID-19 (out of 8) was 7.42 (SD: 0.95, range: 0-8), and the overall preventive measure score was estimated to be approximately 7.42/8*100, which corresponds to 92.7% for both medical and non-medical students. Notably, college students were observed to have substantial knowledge, preventive behavior, and a positive attitude toward COVID-19. Government programs should aim to educate individuals from other sectors of the society to ensure the proper dissemination of knowledge on preventive safety measures, as this will help restrict and control the pandemic.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33623599
doi: 10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.35.2.23586
pii: PAMJ-SUPP-35-2-75
pmc: PMC7875787
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
75Informations de copyright
© Muhammed Elhadi et al.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare no competing interests.
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