Attitudes towards COVID-19 precautionary measures and willingness to work during an outbreak among medical students in Singapore: a mixed-methods study
| Autor: | Hannah Si En Tay, Huso Yi, Christine Li Ling Chiang, Abel Ho Zhi Ling, Gabriel Sheng Jie Lee, Tricia Jia Wen Koh |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Medical education
Students Medical 020205 medical informatics media_common.quotation_subject Health literacy 02 engineering and technology Literacy Occupational safety and health Disease Outbreaks Education 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Influenza Human Pandemic 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering medicine Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Pandemics Health policy media_common Singapore LC8-6691 SARS-CoV-2 Research COVID-19 General Medicine Bioethics Special aspects of education Attitude Communicable Disease Control Medicine Anxiety Thematic analysis medicine.symptom Psychology Attitude of health personnel |
| Zdroj: | BMC Medical Education BMC Medical Education, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 1472-6920 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12909-021-02762-0 |
| Popis: | BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has revealed challenges that medical students face when healthcare systems are under intense pressure. There is a need to assess medical students’ education needs in pandemic preparedness. The objective of this mixed-methods study was threefold: (1) to assess COVID-19 perceived efficacy, susceptibility, and anxiety in relation to health literacy; (2) to describe attitudes towards a policy of precautionary measures against COVID-19 and willingness to work during an outbreak; and (3) to examine multilevel factors associated with willingness to work.MethodsAn online survey was conducted among 263 medical students in Singapore during the lockdown period in July 2020. Participants were surveyed on COVID-19 related literacy, perceptions, anxiety, attitudes towards a policy of precautionary measures, and willingness to work during an outbreak. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the factors associated with the key outcome variable of willingness to work. In addition, open-ended questions were used to assess medical education needs, which were reported using thematic analysis.ResultsPerceived adequacy of COVID-19 information was associated with higher perceived efficacy, lower perceived susceptibility, and lower anxiety levels among the students. Medical students were mostly supportive of COVID-19 precautionary measures except for relatively intrusive measures like in-home surveillance. The degree of willingness to work during an outbreak varied based on certain conditions, in particular family’s health and safety, and was associated with self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility, and hospital capacity of outbreak management.ConclusionsMedical students’ attitudes towards a policy of precautionary measures varied depending on legality, financial and psychological support, and privacy concerns. Health literacy played an important role in increasing the efficacy of protection against COVID-19 and reducing pandemic-related anxiety among medical students. Their willingness to work during an outbreak was increased by an effective policy of precautionary measures, hospital capacity to manage a pandemic, and assurance of family safety. Medical education should include pandemic preparedness to better prepare students to aid in pandemics, with emphasis on public health policy and ethics coupled with clinical training targeted to managing outbreaks. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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