Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences Regarding COVID-19

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as an acute respiratory disease, spred to many countries in 2019. The best way to fight this disease is to break the chain of infection. This study aims to survey the knowledge, attitude and practice of students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) regarding COVID-19.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 252 students of IUMS who were selected by a simple random sampling method.The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with 40 items and acceptable validity and reliability. The data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 26 using descriptive statistics and statistical tests.

The participants were 189 females (75%) and 63(25%) males. The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and practice was 20.07±2.33 (ranged 0-24), 55.25±6.58 (ranged 14-70), and 9.96±1.37 (ranged 0-11), respectively, indicating their favorable level. The practice of female students was signifcantly higher than that of males. There was no significant difference in knowledge and attitude among students with different educational levels (P=0.551).

knowledge, attitude, and practice of IUMS students regarding the protection measures against COVID-19 are at a favorable level. Implementing educational programs regarding health behaviors through pamphlets, posters, and mass media (TV and radio) as well as having preparedness strategies to deal with and control diseases can be effective to increase people's knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the pandemics.