COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, practices, and vaccine intention among North Carolina medical students

ABSTRACT

Background:There have been over 225 million global cases of COVID-19, resulting in over 4.5 million deaths across the world. The US bears the brunt of the pandemic accounting for over 85 million of these cases.¹ COVID-19 cases continue to rise each day, and vaccination rates across the US vary, with less than 47% of NC adults currently fully vaccinated against COVID-19.² As the US continues to face the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, it is vital to prepare the next generation of medical professionals to recognize and treat the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, as well as educate their patients regarding the realities of COVID-19 vaccination. 

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that students at Wake Forest School of Medicine (WFSOM) would have good overall knowledge about COVID-19 disease and would display positive attitudes about vaccination. It was also expected that students would not feel well prepared to care for patients with COVID-19 or educate them on vaccination and demonstrate stigmatized attitudes toward COVID-19 infection due to its high infectivity and potentially severe clinical consequences. 

Methods:We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional study to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and vaccine intention among medical, PA, and CRNA students at WFSOM in Winston-Salem, NC. Using convenient sampling, a total of 235 consenting participants completed a 110-item structured survey questionnaire.

Results: The majority of respondents were Wake Forest medical students (73.9%), followed by PA students (23.9%) and CRNA students (2.1%). Majority of our participants recognized COVID-19 as a serious disease (96.6%) and received 2 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (99.1%). Minority reported (14.9%) reported prior infection with COVID-19. Majority had knowledge of key symptoms including fever (99.6%), dry cough (93.6%), myalgia (85%) and shortness of breath (99.1%). A large majority also identified respiratory droplets (97.4%) as the main source of COVID-19 transmission. However, only 44.8% reported avoiding crowded places and 55.6% avoid touching or shaking hands. A high amount of stigma was associated with COVID-19 infection as 53.7% of participants either agreed or strongly agreed they would be treated differently if they were to be infected and 39.6% said they believed people would think badly of them. Only 28.2% of participants believed that their country would be able to control the COVID-19 situation soon and a majority agreed (45.9%) or strongly agreed (16.6%) that parts of their medical education would be negatively impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. A small majority said they felt either confident (41%) or very confident (19.7%) explaining vaccine efficacy and safety data to future patients and 88.3% reported they would recommend the vaccine to patients when it is available to them, yet over 30% of participants either agreed or were unsure about vaccine safety. 

Conclusions: Future educational strategies to enhance preparedness, reduce stigma, and address vaccine misconceptions may be accomplished through continued education efforts to ensure medical students are equipped to effectively educate their patients and work to help end the pandemic. 

1.World Health Organization. WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. World Health Organization. Retrieved September 18, 2021, from https://covid19.who.int/. 

2.Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. U.S. COVID-19 vaccine tracker: See your State's progress. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 18, 2021, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker.