A Study to Evaluate the Awareness and Perceptions Regarding Covid-19 Prevention and Management Amongst Undergraduate Medical Students at a Tertiary Care Hospital of North India

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic had overwhelmed the healthcare sector and a need was felt to utilize the services of medical undergraduate students. For this, it was imperative that they have the right knowledge and perceptions about it. Therefore, a study was planned to assess the level of awareness and perception regarding the prevention and management of Covid-19 infection among medical undergraduates. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted over a period of two months in a tertiary care hospital of North India. A written and informed consent was taken. The google form- based questionnaire was distributed to MBBS students via online modes like email and WhatsApp for recording the responses. The categorical data were expressed as frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Batchwise comparison was done using ANOVA. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 381 (76.2%) medical undergraduates participated in the study. They had an average knowledge score of 69.8%. The participants had a favorable attitude and majority of the students (96.2%) agreed that health education and campaigns have a pivotal role in preventing Covid -19. Two-third of students felt that the general public is not practicing Covid appropriate behavior adequately. On inter batch comparison, M.B.B.S second professional (2019 batch) students had significantly higher knowledge (p <0.001) and attitude (p <0.001) scores in comparison to the other batches. Conclusion: The undergraduate medical students were considerably aware of various aspects of Covid-19 infection and had a positive attitude towards the state of affairs as regards to the control and management of the pandemic in the country, with some scope for improvement.