Knowledge, attitude, and practice related to the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate medical students in Indonesia: a nationwide cross-sectional study (preprint)

ABSTRACT

IntroductionThe potential role of medical students in raising awareness during public health emergencies has been acknowledged. To further explore their potentials as public educators and role models for the communities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a study is conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of these students toward COVID-19. MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate medical students in Indonesia. Socio-demographical characteristics, social interaction history, information-seeking behavior, as well as knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 were collected through a self-reported questionnaire. A p-value of <0.05 indicated statistical significance. ResultsOut of 4870 respondents, 64.9% and 51.5% had positive attitude and practice toward COVID-19 while only 29.8% had adequate knowledge. Knowledge was slightly positively correlated with attitude and practice ({rho}=0.074 and {rho}=0.054, respectively; both p<0.001), while attitude was weakly correlated with practice ({rho}=0.234, p<0.001). Several factors including age, sex, place of residence, institution type, academic level, family income, history of chronic illness, prior volunteering experience, and perceptual awareness on COVID-19 were significantly associated with either knowledge, attitude, and/or practice toward COVID-19. Furthermore, health institutions and the governments press releases, as well as health expert opinions were deemed as the most reliable sources of COVID-19-related information - yet trivially none of these sources were associated with knowledge, attitude, and practice in the study population. ConclusionMany undergraduate medical students in Indonesia had positive attitude and practice against COVID-19, yet only a few had adequate knowledge. This warrants further interventions to keep them updated with COVID-19 evidence to maximize their potentials in raising public awareness on COVID-19.