Adequacy of preventive measures, awareness, and attitude regarding the COVID-19 pandemic among university pharmacy students

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Tariq S., Tariq S., Baig M., Alam S. S.

Pharmacy Education, cilt.20, sa.2, ss.283-289, 2020 (ESCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 20 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.46542/pe.2020.202.283289
  • Dergi Adı: Pharmacy Education
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, EBSCO Education Source, Educational research abstracts (ERA), EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.283-289
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Attitude, Knowledge, Pharmacy Students, Preparedness, Social Media
  • İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Introduction: The aim was to investigate the adequacy of preventive measures, awareness, and attitudes of pharmacy university students in the Punjab province, Pakistan, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was designed at a private university in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The questionnaire was developed on Google forms and distributed to students of five universities in the Punjab province via WhatsApp groups. Results: The comparison of COVID-19 knowledge for specific questions showed that non-pharmacy students (NPS) had significantly better knowledge about the source of the virus (p<0.001), while pharmacy students (PS) had better knowledge regarding COVID-19 treatment (p=0.01). The PS’s perception of the dangerousness and risk of contracting COVID-19 infection was better than NPS’s perception (p=0.026; p=0.019, respectively). The regression analysis revealed that the knowledge score was negatively associated with the female gender, and females were less likely to have a positive attitude. Conclusion: The authors’ results suggest that PS had good knowledge, positive attitude, and preparedness towards COVID-19. However, there are still misconceptions and confusion about the disease.