Faculty of health sciences students’ knowledge and attitudes toward coronavirus disease 2019 during the first wave of the pandemic: A cross‑sectional survey

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to determine the faculty of the health sciences students’ knowledge and attitudes regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic. Materials and Methods: This cross‑sectional survey was completed with 317 undergraduate students of one health sciences faculty in Turkey. The data were collected between March 1, 2020, and March 15, 2020, by face‑to‑face interviews using a questionnaire created by the researchers. Number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson Chi‑square test were used to evaluate the data. Results: In this study, a high proportion of students answered questions about COVID‑19 correctly. About 55.8% of the students took partial precautions against COVID‑19 to protect themselves against COVID‑19 and “frequent washing of hands” was the most common precaution. We determined that the main reasons for not taking any precautions against COVID‑19 were “low number of cases in Turkey” and “getting irritated by the mask.” About 98.4% of the participants were entirely/partially following the news on COVID‑19, with social media being the most commonly used medium. Female students took more protective measures than male students. The 1st‑year students had more positive thoughts about vaccination compared to those in the other classes. Conclusions: Although the knowledge of the students about COVID‑19 was good in the first wave of the pandemic, more than half of the students stated that they partially complied with the protective measures.