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      A Cross-Sectional Study on University Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates

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          Abstract.

          The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic is hitting the whole world, including the United Arab Emirates. Public awareness and adherence to the recommendations play a major role in managing a crisis of this magnitude which is largely affected by knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Hence, the aim of this study was to assess COVID-19–related KAP of the University of Sharjah (UOS) students and compare between health-related (HR) and non-HR (NHR) majors. A cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2020 in which 1,012 (481 health-related and 531 NHR) students participated via an online KAP questionnaire. The students’ sociodemographic characteristics and sources of information were also recorded, and data were analyzed. Students were aged 20–25 years, with an overall knowledge score of 72.4%, and the main source of their information was the Internet and social media (85.2%). Those in HR majors had a higher knowledge score (76%) than those in NHR students (69%). Regarding attitudes, both HR and NHR students demonstrated comparable and positive attitudes to curb the spread. With respect to practices, more NHR students used masks (92.3%), almost all the time than HR students (88.4%). HR students (99.4%) avoided crowded places and practiced social distancing more than NHR students (99.4% versus 97.4% and 97.7% versus 93.2%, respectively). In conclusion, UOS students demonstrated adequate knowledge, and possessed good attitudes and low-risk practices toward prevention of COVID-19. It is recommended that universities including UOS continue to use digital university communication platforms to regularly disseminate vital information in such emergencies.

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          Most cited references30

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          Evolution of the novel coronavirus from the ongoing Wuhan outbreak and modeling of its spike protein for risk of human transmission

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            A major outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong.

            There has been an outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) worldwide. We report the clinical, laboratory, and radiologic features of 138 cases of suspected SARS during a hospital outbreak in Hong Kong. From March 11 to 25, 2003, all patients with suspected SARS after exposure to an index patient or ward were admitted to the isolation wards of the Prince of Wales Hospital. Their demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiologic characteristics were analyzed. Clinical end points included the need for intensive care and death. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. There were 66 male patients and 72 female patients in this cohort, 69 of whom were health care workers. The most common symptoms included fever (in 100 percent of the patients); chills, rigors, or both (73.2 percent); and myalgia (60.9 percent). Cough and headache were also reported in more than 50 percent of the patients. Other common findings were lymphopenia (in 69.6 percent), thrombocytopenia (44.8 percent), and elevated lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase levels (71.0 percent and 32.1 percent, respectively). Peripheral air-space consolidation was commonly observed on thoracic computed tomographic scanning. A total of 32 patients (23.2 percent) were admitted to the intensive care unit; 5 patients died, all of whom had coexisting conditions. In a multivariate analysis, the independent predictors of an adverse outcome were advanced age (odds ratio per decade of life, 1.80; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.16 to 2.81; P=0.009), a high peak lactate dehydrogenase level (odds ratio per 100 U per liter, 2.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.28 to 3.42; P=0.003), and an absolute neutrophil count that exceeded the upper limit of the normal range on presentation (odds ratio, 1.60; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 2.50; P=0.04). SARS is a serious respiratory illness that led to significant morbidity and mortality in our cohort. Copyright 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society
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              Medical Students and COVID-19: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Precautionary Measures. A Descriptive Study From Jordan

              The recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is associated with increasing morbidity and mortality and has impacted the lives of the global populations. Human behavior and knowledge assessment during the crisis are critical in the overall efforts to contain the outbreak. To assess knowledge, attitude, perceptions, and precautionary measures toward COVID-19 among a sample of medical students in Jordan. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted between the 16th and 19th of March 2020. Participants were students enrolled in different levels of study at the six medical schools in Jordan. An online questionnaire which was posted on online platforms was used. The questionnaire consisted of four main sections: socio-demographics, sources of information, knowledge attitudes, and precautionary measures regarding COVID-19. Medical students used mostly social media (83.4%) and online search engines (84.8%) as their preferred source of information on COVID-19 and relied less on medical search engines (64.1%). Most students believed that hand shaking (93.7%), kissing (94.7%), exposure to contaminated surfaces (97.4%), and droplet inhalation (91.0%) are the primary mode of transmission but were indecisive regarding airborne transmission with only 41.8% in support. Participants also reported that elderly with chronic illnesses are the most susceptible group for the coronavirus infection (95.0%). As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic more than 80.0% of study participants adopted social isolation strategies, regular hand washing, and enhanced personal hygiene measures as their first line of defense against the virus. In conclusion, Jordanian medical students showed expected level of knowledge about the COVID-19 virus and implemented proper strategies to prevent its spread.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Am J Trop Med Hyg
                Am J Trop Med Hyg
                tpmd
                tropmed
                The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
                The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
                0002-9637
                1476-1645
                January 2021
                23 November 2020
                23 November 2020
                : 104
                : 1
                : 75-84
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates;
                [2 ]Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates;
                [3 ]Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates;
                [4 ]Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan;
                [5 ]Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan;
                [6 ]Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan
                Author notes
                [* ]Address correspondence to Veena Raigangar, Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, University City Road, University City, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: veena@ 123456sharjah.ac.ae or Hayder Hasan, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, University City Road, University City, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: haidarah@ 123456sharjah.ac.ae .

                Authors’ addresses: Hayder Hasan, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: haidarah@ 123456sharjah.ac.ae . Veena Raigangar, Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: veena@ 123456sharjah.ac.ae . Tareq Osaili, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. E-mail: tosaili@ 123456sharjah.ac.ae . Noorieh E. Neinavaei, Department of Physiotherapy, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, E-mail: u14120309@ 123456sharjah.ac.ae . Amin N. Olaimat, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan, E-mail: aminolaimat@ 123456hu.edu.jo . Iman Aolymat, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan, E-mail: emanolaimat3@ 123456gmail.com .

                Article
                tpmd200857
                10.4269/ajtmh.20-0857
                7790059
                33236710
                5c79aada-fb7e-4b79-ad77-b28324cbd4ed
                © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 14 July 2020
                : 10 November 2020
                Page count
                Pages: 10
                Categories
                Articles

                Infectious disease & Microbiology
                Infectious disease & Microbiology

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