Knowledge and perception towards Ebola virus disease among nursing students in University of Nursing, Yangon.

An analytical cross-sectional study of knowledge and perception towards Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) among nursing students was conducted in University of Nursing (UON), Yangon in October 2014. A total of 170 nursing students were interviewed. Subjects were selected by simple random sampling method and the survey was conducted using self-administered questionnaire.The general objective of the study was to find out the knowledge and perception towards Ebola Virus Disease among nursing students. The study showed that the nursing students have received general information about EVD via TV, radio, internet news and peer groups. The minimum knowledge score was 7 while maximum score was 40. It was observed that 54.7% of the respondents had good knowledge about Ebola disease and 45.3% had poor knowledge (Mean ± SD = 28.51 ± 5.144). Regarding perception about the disease, the minimum perception score was 32 while the maximum score was 48. Similar to what was found regarding knowledge about the disease, 55.3% had favorable perception and 44.7% had unfavorable perception towards EVD (Mean ± SD = 43.73 ± 3.645). The academic year was found to be associated with the knowledge level (p < 0.001) and also with the perception level (p = 0.033) of the respondents. Total years of service in the government sector was also found to be associated with a higher knowledge level of EVD (p = 0.040). A signifi cant association was also observed between knowledge level and perception level (p = 0.019). The study showed that there is an urgent need to improve knowledge and perception levels of the nurses regarding the epidemiology of EVD and prevention activities.