Willingness and motivations towards volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey among final year medical students in Lagos, Nigeria.

Introduction: Increasing manpower capacity to meet the demands in the healthcare system is important during health emergencies. Medical students have roles to play during a pandemic but their involvement in these duties should be voluntary. The objective of this study was to assess the willingness and motivations of final year medical students in Lagos, Nigeria towards volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students in their sixth (final) year of study at the two public Universities in Lagos, Nigeria using total population sampling technique. A web-based questionnaire was used for data collection and data were analysed using SPSS. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict the willingness to volunteer. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 23.4 years ±â€¯2.6SD and 62.6% were female. About 65.9% of the medical students were willing to volunteer. Motivational factors which include self-rated good health status [OR: 2.1(95%CI: 1.16-3.6)], self-rated competence to work as a COVID-19 volunteer [OR: 6.5(95%CI: 3.61-11.54)] and availability of adequate protection and personal protective equipment [OR: 3.3(95%CI: 1.74-6.33)] significantly increased the odds of willingness to volunteer after controlling for other variables. Respondents' opinions on settings where medical students can serve as volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic include case management (21.7%) and telemedicine (85.8%). Conclusion: Medical students are willing to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need to prepare and motivate the final year medical students by developing their skills to improve their competence and by providing adequate protection for the willing students to function as volunteers.

A gender comparison of psychological distress among medical students in Nigeria during the Coronavirus pandemic: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as a large scale stressor could have negative effects on the mental health of medical students. Since gender differences in mental health may exist, it is important to see if a large scale stressor like the pandemic may be associated with variances in the psychological distress between both genders. Objectives: To assess and compare the psychological distress of male and female medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 1010 medical students from three universities in southwestern Nigeria within the first six months of the first reported case of the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents were purposively selected. Data was obtained online on participants' demographic and psychological distress using the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12). Data was analyzed using the SPSS version 21, student t and chi-square tests were used to assess gender differences, and multivariate regression to assess the predictors of psychological distress among both genders. p values less than 0.05were considered statistically significant. Results: Overall, female participants (OR=1.455, 95% CI= 1.095-1.936) were twice more likely to have experienced psychological distress than males during the COVID-19 pandemic. Age (OR=0.922, 95% CI= 0.867-0.979), being in pre-clinical years (OR= 1.394, 95% CI= 1.004-1.938), having a family income less than 100,000 naira (OR= 1.379, 95% CI=1.442-6.723) a previous history of mental illness (OR=3.077, 95% CI= 1.430-6.615) and having a relative/acquaintance diagnosed with COVID 19(OR=1.646, 95% CI= 1.062-2.551) were independently associated with psychological distress among the respondents. When comparing both genders, among females, age (OR=0.886, 95% CI= 0.803-0.978), family income less than 100,000 naira (OR=1.898, 95% CI= 1.306-2.759) and a previous history of mental illness (OR=5.266, 95% CI= 1.894-14.635) were associated with psychological distress, while, being in pre-clinical years (OR= 1.713, 95% CI= 1.052-2.790) was associated with psychological distress among males. Conclusion: Females had more psychological distress compared to male students. It is recommended that gender-specific interventions addressing psychological distress among medical students are instituted.

Volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic: Attitudes and perceptions of clinical medical and dental students in Lagos, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Volunteering within the health-care sector is crucial during pandemics. This study aimed to assess the attitudes and perceptions of clinical medical and dental students in Lagos, Nigeria, about volunteering during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted amongst medical and dental students undergoing clinical postings at the two public universities in Lagos, Nigeria, using total population sampling. Data were collected using a web-based questionnaire and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to test for association at the level of significance of 5%. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 23.3 years ± 2.6 standard deviation and 62.5% were females. The majority (82.9%) of the respondents agreed to volunteer if provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and if adequately trained to do so (79.3%). Although perceived as dangerous, the majority (91.2%) of the respondents considered volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic as a form of educational experience. Compared to the final-year students, penultimate year students were more likely to volunteer in the event of a health manpower shortage. The final-year students were more likely to volunteer if government made the request. Female students were more likely than male students to volunteer even if they were not compensated but would require parental approval. CONCLUSION: Medical and dental students perceived their involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic as a form of educational experience but would require adequate training and PPE. There is a need to train and provide adequate PPE for them to function as volunteers.

Epidemiological trends of coronavirus disease 2019 in Nigeria: From 1 to 10,000.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in Nigeria was first reported on the 27th February 2020 and 95 days after, it had spread to 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 10,162 confirmed cases. We reviewed the trends of the epidemic from the 27th February to the 31st May 2020, when it reached the 10,000th mark vis-à-vis government policies to contain the spread of the disease. METHODS: We used publicly available data from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control from 27th February 2020, when Nigeria recorded her first coronavirus disease 2019 case to the 31st May 2020. We used line graphs to describe the trends of the daily course of cumulative cases, discharges and deaths in states and nationally. The doubling time, transmission rates were inferred from these trends and the epidemiological curve generated was reviewed vis-a-vis the instituted government policies over the specified period. RESULTS: The epidemic curve in Nigeria has been on an upward trajectory as the number of cases crossed the 10,000 marks, 3 months after the first case was recorded. The first spike in the number of new cases was observed on the 21st April 2020, with 117 cases. The number of daily deaths within the study period was highest on the 2nd May 2020 (17 new deaths). Geo-political zone variations were also observed. Of the 63,882 screening tests conducted during the study period, 15.9% tested positive; the doubling time and transmission rates were 23.5 days and 1.0%, respectively, as at 31st May 2020. Since the lockdown measures were lifted in Lagos and the FCT on the 4th May 2020, the number of cases has been on a steady increase each week. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: In Nigeria, the epidemic curve has been on an upward direction since the first reported case and it took 3 months to reach 10,000 cases. We recommend a sustained drive in the enforcement of physical and social distancing and increase in testing capacity to flatten the epidemic curve.