Perception and attitude of clinical medical students to COVID-19 containment measures

Abstract

Background: The strain put on the health systems by the COVID-19 pandemic is very significant. Measures of containment includes closure of schools, wearing of face mask, use of hand sanitizers, etc. Objectives: To determine the perception and attitude of clinical medical students to COVID-19 containment measures. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study which utilized an online survey protocol. A self-selecting sampling method was used to select students. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20, Chicago (Ill., USA). Results: Medical students hazarded wearing of face mask 154(87.0%) and the use of hand sanitizers 59(89.8%) as the most useful containment measures against COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty six participants (37.3%) had good preventive practices. The age range of 20–25 years and male gender “disagreed” that government stoppage of medical education is an appropriate measure against COVID 19 pandemic. (p = 0.01, and 0.02, respectively). Only 10.2% of participants believed that the government is also affected by this containment measure. Age range of 20–25 years and being a catholic are predictors of good preventive practices (P = 0.05, and 0.04, respectively). Conclusion: A little proportion of medical students had good preventive practices against COVID-19. And a good proportion repudiated the policy of closure of schools during the pandemic. Factors such as male gender, and being within the 20–25 years age bracket were predictors of students’ rejection of the government’s policy on closure of schools as a containment measure for COVID pandemic.

Keywords

• attitude
• covid-19
• medical students
• perception