Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Medical Students towards COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nigerian Tertiary Institution

The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) SARS-CoV-2, is an evolving respiratory disease which was first detected in December, 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has eventually spread to larger parts of the world. COVID-19 may result in mild to severe respiratory distress, depending on the individuals´ age and immune system as well as the presence of any underlying conditions. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of medical students towards COVID-19. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study that involved all the medical students in Enugu State University College of Medicine, Enugu State, Nigeria. Data was collected with an online questionnaire formulated in Google form. It was shared through their different class online platforms (WhatsApp). All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Categorical variables were presented in the form of frequencies and percentages. Majority of the students were within the 15-24 years age group (79.3%), females (62.1%) and single (98.3%). All the students were of Igbo Ethnic group and Christians. Most of them were in their 5th year of study (39.7%). About 65.4% of the students had good knowledge of COVID-19, while 48.6% of them had good attitude towards COVID-19. Majority of them (77.6%) however, had good practice towards COVID-19. There is poor attitude of the medical students towards the COVID-19 pandemic but they had better knowledge and practice towards the pandemic. Measures should be put in place to address attitudinal change among this group of students towards infectious diseases like the present COVID-19.