THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS COVID-19 IMMUNISATION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN PUBLIC MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA

Received 2023-02-01; Accepted 2023-04-20; Published 2023-07-21

Authors

  • Nurul Hayati Mohamad Zainal Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Safiyya Mohammed Ayyub Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Chang Fang Yi Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Arif Najmi Shahrir Zaman Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nurul Huda Mohd Nor Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Norsuhana Omar Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
  • Ku Mastura Ku Mohd Noor Department of Medical Science 1, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
  • Hanan Hamimi Wahid Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia, Bandar Indera Mahkota Campus, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah 25200 Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22452/jummec.vol26no2.8

Keywords:

COVID-19 immunisation, knowledge, attitude, practice, medical students

Abstract

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease that caused a worldwide pandemic in 2020. Medical students are public advocates for COVID-19 vaccination to achieve herd immunity. Our objective is to ascertain the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 immunisation among medical students in Malaysia. The online study included four public universities in Peninsular Malaysia: Universiti Putra Malaysia, International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. Data collected include sociodemographic characteristics, history of COVID-19 infection, knowledge, attitude and practice towards COVID-19 immunisation. Analytical statistics were analysed with IBM Statistical Package Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) v27.0 using Pearson chi-square or Fisher’s exact test (significant if p < 0.05). From the total of 427 respondents, 60.2% had good knowledge whereby clinical students 67.0% had a higher proportion of good knowledge as compared to preclinical students 53.5% (p = 0.004). Respondents in the age group of 21 to 24 years old (p < 0.001) and 25 to 29 years old (p = 0.016), and Indian ethnicity (p = 0.006) were more likely to have good knowledge. Respondents registered in Malaysia’s National COVID-19 vaccination program were considered as having a positive attitude (n = 264, 61.8%). A vaccination rate of 100% was observed. In conclusion, 60.2% of medical students had good knowledge, 61.8% had a positive attitude and 100% were vaccinated in these four public medical schools in Malaysia. Sociodemographic factors (age group and Indian ethnicity) have an association with only good knowledge but none with the level of attitude and practice towards COVID-19 immunisation.

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Published

2023-07-21

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Research article

License

All authors agree that the article, if editorially accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 to allow others to freely access, copy and use research provided the author is correctly attributed, unless otherwise stated. All articles are available online without charge or other barriers to access. However, anyone wishing to reproduce large quantities of an article (250+) should inform the publisher. Any opinion expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not reflect that of the University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.