A study investigating the knowledge and responses of Italian medical students to the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Italy was initially one of the worse affected countries by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Medical students frequenting hospitals are more susceptible to be infected by the virus but also able to see the effects of the pandemic from the frontline. The aim of this study was to assess the COVID-19 related knowledge, behavioral changes, and perceptions of Italian medical students within the first 90 days after the onset of the outbreak in Italy. A national cross-sectional study was conducted from 23rd April to 31st April 2020. Participants were Italian medical students whose knowledge, behavioral changes, and perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic were assessed. The survey consisted of: demographics, COVID-19 related general knowledge, behavioral changes, and perceptions of the pandemic. A total of 520 students answered the survey. The majority of the students’ ages ranged from 21 to 25 years old (345, 66.3%). Only 48.6% stated that they had received a formal education about COVID-19 from their medical institutions. However, all the students declared that they tried to inform themselves, mostly through WHO, CDC, UpToDate (56%), but also (21.6%) through national guidelines, social networks (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube) (11.5%), and other sources (10.9%). Italian medical students demonstrated a high level of COVID-19-related general knowledge as well as self-reported preventative behavioral changes but only had a moderate risk perception regarding the pandemic. They improved their health habits but questioned the reliability of information and handling of the pandemic by health authorities.

KEYWORDS:

• Italy
• medical student
• Public Health
• COVID19

Notes on contribution

Concept and design: Wheeler, Zaed. Acquisition of data: All Authors. Analysis and interpretation of data: Wheeler, Safa, Zaed. Drafting the article: All Authors. Critically revising the article: All authors.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the many students who helped spread our survey to medical students throughout Italy: Giorgio Ratti, Alessandro Pisano, Soumya Rupa Reddy Kotha.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.

Consent

All respondents have given consent for publication of this study.

Main messages

• By April, Italian medical students already had a high level of COVID-19-related general knowledge, self-reported preventative behavioral changes but they had a moderate risk perception regarding the pandemic.

• They improved their overall health habits.

• They questioned the reliability of information and handling of the pandemic by health authorities.

Research questions

• Could medical students questioning of the handling of the pandemic have affected their risk perceptions and preventative behaviors?