Keywords
Coronavirus Infections
Students
Universities
Knowledge
How to Cite
Abstract
Objective: the objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, beliefs, perceptions, and preventive behaviors for COVID- 19 among university students in Spain.
Method: the WHO survey «Monitoring knowledge, risk perceptions, preventive behaviors and trust to inform pandemic outbreak response» was used in this cross-sectional study conducted in May 2020.
Results: 1,285 students joined the study, with an average age of 23.4 (SD=6.0). The average score for self-assessed knowledge was 5.5 (SD= 1,1) (range 0-7). Most of the effective measures were correctly identified as such, with an average of correctly identified measures of 6.9 (SD=1.8) (range 0-17).
The average score for infection probability and severity (range 1-7) was 3.8 (SD= 1.5 and 1.6 respectively). The number of effective measures adopted to prevent COVID- 19 was 8.6 (SD =1.3) (range 0-10) and the number non-effective measures was 0.4 (SD=0.8) (range 0-7).
Conclusions: the results show an adequate level of knowledge about symptoms and preventive measures. Risk perception, severity, infection probability and ability to avoid infection suggest overconfidence, which should be considered.
References
Wu D, Wu T, Liu Q, Yang Z. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak: What we know. Int J Infec Dis. 2020; 94: 44-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.03.004.
Jonhson HC. Potential scenarios for the progression of a COVID-19 epidemic in the European Union and the European Economic Area. Euro Surveill. 2020; 25(9): 2000202. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000202.
Adhikari SP, Meng S, Wu YJ, Mao YP, Ye RX, Wang QZ, et al. Epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, prevention and control of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during the early outbreak period: a scoping review. Infect Dis Poverty. 2020; 9 (1): 29. doi: 10.1186/s40249-020-00646-x.
Wilder-Smith A, Freedman DO. Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and community containment: pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. J Travel Med. 2020; 27(2): taaa020. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa020.
Champion VL, Skinner CS. Health Behavior and Health Education. Theory, Research, and Practice. 4th ed. San Francisco: John Willey & Sons; 2008.
Michie S, van Stralen MM, West R. The behaviour change wheel: a new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implement Sci. 2011; 6: 42. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-6-42.
Becker MH. The Health Belief Model and Sick Role Behavior. Health Educ Behav. 1974; 2: 326–7.
doi: 10.1177/109019817400200407.
Lohiniva AL, Sane J, Sibenberg K, Puumalainen T, Salminen M. Understanding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk perceptions among the public to enhance risk communication efforts: a practical approach for outbreaks, Finland, February 2020. Euro Surveill. 2020; 25 (13): 2000317.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.13.2000317.
World Health Organization. Weekly Surveillance Report. World Health Organization. 2020.
https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/weekly-surveillance-report. Accessed 26 Nov 2020.
Red Nacional de Vigilancia Epidemiológica. Informe número 50 de la situación COVID en España. Instituto de Salud Carlos III. 2020.
https://www.isciii.es/QueHacemos/Servicios/VigilanciaSaludPublicaRENAVE/EnfermedadesTransmisibles/
Documents/INFORMES/Informes%20COVID-19/Informe%20COVID-19.%20N%C2%BA%2050_28%20
de%20octubre%20de%202020.pdf. Accessed 26 Nov 2020.
Han D, Li R, Han Y, Zhang R, Li J. COVID-19: Insight into the asymptomatic SARS-COV-2 infection and transmission. Int J Biol Sci. 2020; 16 (15): 2803-11. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.48991.
Van Selm M, Jankowski NW. Conducting online surveys. Qual Quant. 2006; 40: 435–56.
doi: 10.1007/s11135-005-8081-8.
World Health Organization. Monitoring knowledge, risk perceptions, preventive behaviours and trust to inform pandemic outbreak response. World Health Organization.2020.
https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/436705/COVID-19-survey-tool-and-guidance.pdf.
Accessed 26 Nov 2020.
Hinkle DE, Wiersma W, Jurs SG. Applied Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin; 1998.
Sheleme T, Bekele F, Ayela T. Clinical Presentation of Patients Infected with Coronavirus Disease 19: A Systematic Review. Infect Dis. (Auckl). 2020; 13: 1178633720952076.
doi:10.1177/1178633720952076.
Yuan T, Liu H, Li XD, Liu HR. Factors Affecting Infection Control Behaviors to Prevent COVID-19: An Online Survey of Nursing Students in Anhui, China in March and April 2020. Med Sci Monit. 2020; 26: e925877. doi: 10.12659/MSM.925877.
Gallè F, Sabella EA, Da Molin G, De Giglio O, Caggiano G, Di Onofrio V, et al. Understanding Knowledge and Behaviors Related to CoViD-19 Epidemic in Italian Undergraduate Students: The EPICO Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17 (10): 3481. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103481.
Taghrir MH, Borazjani R, Shiraly R. COVID-19 and Iranian Medical Students; A Survey on Their Related-Knowledge, Preventive Behaviors and Risk Perception. Arch Iran Med. 2020; 23(4): 249-54. doi: 10.34172/aim.2020.06.
Gohel KH, Patel PB, Shah PM, Patel JR, Pandit N, Raut A. Knowledge and perceptions about COVID-19
among the medical and allied health science students in India: An online cross-sectional survey. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2021; 9:104-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cegh.2020.07.008.
Olaimat AN, Aolymat I, Elsahoryi N, Shahbaz HM, Holley RA. Attitudes, Anxiety, and Behavioral Practices Regarding COVID-19 among University Students in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020; 103(3): 1177-83. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0418.
Dardas LA, Khalaf I, Nabolsi M, Nassar O, Halasa S. Developing an Understanding of Adolescents’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19. J Sch Nurs. 2020; 36(6):430-41. doi: 10.1177/1059840520957069.
Peng Y, Pei C, Zheng Y, Wang J, Zhang K, Zheng Z, et al. A cross-sectional survey of knowledge, attitude and practice associated with COVID-19 among undergraduate students in China. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20(1): 1292. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09392-z.
Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards
COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci. 2020; 16(10): 1745-52. doi: 10.7150/ijbs.45221.
Chesser A, Drassen Ham A, Keene Woods N. Assessment of COVID-19 Knowledge Among University Students: Implications for Future Risk Communication Strategies. Health Educ Behav. 2020; 47(4): 540-3.
doi: 10.1177/1090198120931420.
Wilson RF, Sharma AJ, Schluechtermann S, Currie DW, Mangan J, Kaplan B, et al. Factors Influencing Risk for COVID-19 Exposure Among Young Adults Aged 18-23 Years - Winnebago County, Wisconsin, March-July
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020; 69(41): 1497-502. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6941e2.
Gao Z, Ying S, Liu J, Zhang H, Li J, Ma C. A cross-sectional study: Comparing the attitude and knowledge of medical and non-medical students toward 2019 novel coronavirus. J Infect Public Health. 2020; 13(10): 1419-23.
doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.06.031.
Cervera-Gasch Á, González-Chordá VM, Mena-Tudela D. COVID-19: Are Spanish medicine and nursing students prepared? Nurse Educ Today. 2020; 92: 104473. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104473.
Umeizudike KA, Isiekwe IG, Fadeju AD, Akinboboye BO, Aladenika ET. Nigerian undergraduate dental students’ knowledge, perception, and attitude to COVID-19 and infection control practices. J Dent Educ. 2021; 8582):187-96. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12423.
Hamza MS, Badary OA, Elmazar MM. Cross-Sectional Study on Awareness and Knowledge of COVID-19
Among Senior pharmacy Students. J Community Health. 2020; 46(1):139-46. doi: 10.1007/s10900-020-00859-z.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.