COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices of United Arab Emirates medical and health sciences students: A cross sectional study

  1. Noura Baniyas
  2. Mohamud Sheek-Hussein
  3. Nouf Al Kaabi
  4. Maitha Al Shamsi
  5. Maitha Al Neyadi
  6. Rauda Al Khoori
  7. Suad Ajab
  8. Muhammad Abid
  9. Michal Grivna
  10. Fikri M. Abu-Zidan

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is the largest viral pandemic of the 21st century. We aimed to study COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among medical and health sciences students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We performed a cross-sectional study between 2 June and 19 August 2020. The survey was distributed online using Survey Monkey. It was conducted in English and comprised two parts: socio-demographic characteristics, and KAP towards COVID-19. 712 responses to the questionnaire were collected. 90% of respondents (n = 695) were undergraduate students, while 10% (n = 81) were postgraduates. The majority (87%, n = 647) stated that they obtained COVID-19 information from multiple reliable sources. They were highly knowledgeable about the COVID-19 pandemic, but 76% (n = 539) did not recognize its routes of transmission. Medical students were significantly more knowledgeable compared with allied health students (P<0.0001, Mann Whitney U test) but there was no difference in knowledge between undergraduate and postgraduate students (P = 0.14, Mann Whitney U test). Medical students thought that more could be done to mitigate the COVID-19 situation compared with the allied health students (66.2% compared with 51.6%, p = 0.002 Fisher’s Exact test). 63% (n = 431) were worried about getting COVID-19 infection, while 92% (n = 633)) were worried that a family member could be infected with the virus. 97% (n = 655) took precautions when accepting home deliveries, 94% (n = 637) had been washing their hands more frequently, and 95% (n = 643) had been wearing face masks. In conclusion, medical and health sciences students in the UAE showed high levels of knowledge and good attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, they were worried about themselves or their family members becoming infected. Medical students had more knowledge about COVID-19 pandemic which was reflected in their opinion that more can be done to mitigate its effects.

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  1. Version published to 10.1371/journal.pone.0246226
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.01.19.427250: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementConsent: The questionnaire started with a consent page which provided a brief description of the study, the voluntary nature of participation and declaration of anonymity.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    We used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM-SPSS version 26, Chicago, Il) for statistical analysis.
    Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations: We have to acknowledge that out study has certain limitations. First, this study was conducted using an online survey; consequently, the results of the questionnaire all depended on the participants self-reported behaviors, with no means of confirming whether the responses were exaggerated as a result of social desirability bias. Second, the respondents were predominantly females and medical students. This may be a selection bias with its effect on the results. Finally, this study was conducted in the early stages of the pandemic when the UAE was under lockdown and continued for a while after the restrictions were lifted. Since then, more information about the pandemic has been published and likewise public health measures in the UAE have changed. Thus, the results of the study may not represent the current COVID-19 KAP of the medical and health sciences students.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.01.19.427250v1 on bioRxiv