Healthcare Students’ Perception of Social Distancing during the 2019 Coronavirus Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Autor: Katharine W Rainer, Travis W Blalock, Chao Zhang, Devon L Barrett
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Medical Students.
ISSN: 2076-6327
DOI: 10.5195/ijms.2021.820
Popis: Background: Since the implementation of social distancing practices during the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic there have been a myriad of definitions for ‘social distancing.’ The objective of this study was to determine students’ awareness of the various definitions of social distancing, how strictly they adhered to social distancing guidelines, and how they perceived the importance of various social distancing practices. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was distributed via email to students at Emory-affiliated graduate schools, including the Medical, Nursing, and Public Health Schools. Results: Of the 2,453 recipients of the survey, 415 students responded (16.9% response rate). The majority of respondents were medical students (n=225, 55.6%). Of the respondents, 357 noted that they “frequently” or “always” abided by social distancing. The most common definition of social distancing with which respondents were familiar was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s (n=276 of 369 responses, 74.8%). There were significant differences across groups when grouping students by the definition of social distancing that they were aware of, the social distancing guideline they most closely followed, and their school of attendance regarding the importance of specific social distancing examples (p
Databáze: OpenAIRE