ABSTRACT
Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Since then, it has spread to 215 countries, and 42 million people around the globe are affected. The knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19 play a role in determining the acceptance of behavioral change measures from health authorities to suppress this pandemic status. The KAP on COVID-19 is also important among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic to mitigate the outbreak of COVID-19. Hence, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 and its association with sociodemographic factors among nursing students of Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among the Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 nursing students. The questionnaire consists of four parts: 1) demographics, which surveys participants’ sociodemographic information;2) knowledge about COVID-19;3) attitude towards COVID-19;and 4) practices relevant to COVID-19. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0 was used for data entry and analysis. Result: A total of 113 Nursing Students participated in the study. More than half of the respondents have good general knowledge and practices of COVID-19. However, only one in three respondents have positive attitudes towards COVID-19. Older age was associated with good knowledge about COVID-19 (p=0.02). Female (P=0.02) and high household income (P=0.02) has a better attitude towards COVID-19. However, no significant association between sociodemographic and practices towards COVID-19. Conclusion: Most of the respondents demonstrate a good level of knowledge and practices towards COVID-19 but not for attitudes. Sociodemographic characteristics such as younger, male respondents and those with lower-income families have inadequate knowledge and practices towards COVID-19. Hence, health education programs such as campaigns need to be conducted to increase the knowledge and encourage adequate preventive practice towards COVID-19 should be targeted towards this group. © 2022, Sanglah General Hospital. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Stress in nursing students has been documented in many studies and this will lead to various health problems. However, there is scanty research assessing the level of stress among nursing students during Covid-19 in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed to assess the level of stress and its association with social and environmental factors amongst nursing students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by random sampling among nursing students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah between March and May 2021. The primary outcome was stress symptoms, derived from the validated Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS) questionnaire. Socio-demographic, social, and environmental factors were also assessed. T-test was used to assess the associations between level of stress and social and environmental factors. Results: A total of 115 responses were received with the mean (SD) age of the students being 20.5 (1.3) years old. Of all the students, 84.9% were female, 54.6% received financial support from National Higher Education Fund Corporation and 46.2% were in nursing Year 2 followed by the nursing year 1 (28.6%) and nursing year 3 (25.2%). The students in this study reported a higher level of stress. The students who reported most or all the time being trapped in a hostel (p<0.01), challenges of online classes (p=0.03), and catching up with class projects (p=0.03) had a higher level of stress compared to those who reported none or little or some of the factors. Conclusion: This study showed that social and environmental factors may play a role in determining the stress level among nursing students. Hence, authorities should foster supporting strategies to lower student stress and tackles the unwanted consequences. © 2022, Sanglah General Hospital. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Similar to other coronaviruses, COVID-19 is transmitted mainly by droplets and is highly transmissible through close proximity or physical contact with an infected person. Countries across the globe have implemented public health control measures to prevent onward transmission and reduce burden on health care settings. Social or physical distancing was found to be one of appropriate measure based on previous experience with epidemic and pandemic contagious diseases. AIM: This study aims to review the latest evidence of the impact of social or physical distancing implemented during COVID-19 pandemic toward COVID-19 and other related infectious disease transmission. METHODOLOGY: The study uses PRISMA review protocol and formulation of research question was based on PICO. The selected databases include Ovid MEDLINE and Scopus. Thorough identification, screening and eligibility process were done, revealed selected 8 articles. The articles then ranked in quality through Mixed Method Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: A total of eight papers included in this analysis. Five studies (USA, Canada, South Korea and the United Kingdom) showed physical distancing had resulted in a reduction in Covid-19 transmission. In comparison, three other studies (Australia, South Korea and Finland) showed a similar decline on other infectious diseases (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and Vaccine-Preventive Disease. The degree of the distancing policy implemented differs between strict and lenient, with both result in effectiveness in reducing transmission of infectious disease. CONCLUSION: Physical or social distancing may come in the form of extreme or lenient measure in effectively containing contagious disease such as COVID-19, however the stricter the measure will give more proportionate impact toward the economy, education, mental health issues, morbidity and mortality of non-COVID-19 diseases. Since we need this measure to ensure the reduction of infectious diseases transmission to help flattening the curve which allow much needed time for healthcare system to prepare adequately to response, “Precision physical distancing” can be implemented which will have more benefit toward the survival of the community as a whole. © 2021 Nor Rumaizah Mohd Nordin, Fadly Syah Arsad, Puteri Sofia Nadira Megat Kamaruddin, Muhammad Hilmi, Mohd Faizal Madrim, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan, Syed Sharizman Syed Abdul Rahim, Mohammad Saffree Jeffree, Abdul Rahman Ramdzan, Azman Atil, Khalid Mokti, Muhammad Aklil Abd. Rahim, Zulkhairul Naim Sidek Ahmad.