Comparison of awareness, attitude, and performance of medical and nonmedicalstudents regarding COVID-۱۹

Background and Objective: The disease of COVID-۱۹ was formed at the end of ۲۰۱۹ and broughtmany destructive psychological and physical effects. Most of the programs presented to prevent thespread of the disease are based on personal hygiene and compliance with behaviors such as socialdistancing. In the meantime, due to the role of doctors as role models for the people, the knowledge orany gap in the knowledge of medical students about the disease and the behavior they present against it. Itis very important. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, andperformance of the main factors that determine the behavior regarding clinical results among the studentsof Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, ۳۴۲ students of Isfahan University of MedicalSciences were evaluated during the design of a questionnaire consisting of areas of awareness, attitude,performance, and sources of information about the coronavirus. We used the chi-square test and t-test tocompare qualitative variables between two groups and measure the difference in responses and averagescores between different groups of participants. Pearson correlation was done between awareness andattitude scores. Multiple linear regression analysis and logistic regression analysis were performed toidentify factors associated with favorable attitude scores and risk perception toward COVID-۱۹ infection.The data were analyzed using SPSS software and interpreted at the ۵% level.Findings: Students of both medical (۲.۹±۲۳.۴۱) and non-medical (۲۲.۳±۲۲.۸۱) groups had a good level ofattitude towards COVID-۱۹, and medical students had a better average attitude than non-medicalstudents. But this amount was not significant. The level of knowledge and performance of the studentswas weak and lower than the expected level. The awareness level of medical students is significantlyhigher than that of non-medical students (P-value <۰.۰۰۱), but no significant difference was observed inthe performance of these two groups.Conclusion: Students, especially medical students, have good knowledge and attitude regarding COVID-۱۹. Therefore, these students can play a pivotal role in increasing society's information in cases ofepidemics and pandemics of infectious diseases such as COVID-۱۹. They can also be effective inimproving the attitude and performance of people in accepting the controllability of the disease byfollowing health guidelines and carrying out vaccination.

Keywords:

Awareness , Attitude , COVID-۱۹ pandemic , Performance , Students