Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a global public health concern affecting over 5 million people and posing a great burden on health care systems worldwide. Objective The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical students in Uganda on the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted an online, descriptive cross-sectional study in mid-April 2020, using WhatsApp Messenger. Medical students in 9 of the 10 medical schools in Uganda were approached through convenience sampling. Bloom’s cut-off of 80% was used to determine good knowledge (≥12 out of 15), positive attitude (≥20 out of 25), and good practice (≥12 out of 15). Results The data of 741 first- to fifth-year medical students, consisting of 468 (63%) males with a mean age of 24 (SD 4) years, were analyzed. The majority (n=626, 84%) were pursuing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees. Overall, 671 (91%) had good knowledge, 550 (74%) had a positive attitude, and 426 (57%) had good practices. Knowledge was associated with the 4th year of study (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.1, 95% CI 1.6-10.3; P <.001). Attitude was associated with the female sex (aOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-1; P =.04) and TV or radio shows (aOR 1.1, 95% CI 0.6-2.1; P =.01). Practices were associated with the ≥24 years age category (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1; P =.02) and online courses (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-3.2; P =.03). In total, 592 (80%) medical students were willing to participate in frontline care if called upon. Conclusions Medical students in Uganda have sufficient knowledge of COVID-19 and will be a large reservoir for health care response when the need arises.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Uganda, knowledge, medical education, Attitude, practices, medical students, Perspective, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, pandemic, cross-sectional, COVID-19 pandemic, surgery, Sex, Medicine, Health, Practice, male, female, age, School, Health care system, Care, convenience sampling, adjusted odds ratio, 95% CI, global public health, positive attitude, cut-off, messenger, WhatsApp, objective, Course, Result, analyzed, was used, conducted, majority, determine, affecting, arises, Bachelor, 【제목키워드】 survey, School, student,