Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey of COVID-19 Among Healthcare Students During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey

Background: The ongoing Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak has placed the health care system and student training under considerable pressure. However, the plights of healthcare students in COVID-19 period have drawn limited attention in China. Methods: A cross-sectional on-line survey was undertaken between January to March 2020 to explore the COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey among Chinese healthcare students. Demographic information and data on KAP were obtained using a self-reported questionnaire. The percentage KAP scores were categorised as good or poor. Independent predictors of good knowledge of COVID-19 were ascertained to using a logistic regression model. Results: Of the 1595 participants, 85.9%(1370) were females, 53.4% junior college students and 65.8% majoring in nursing, 29.8% had received training on COVID-19. The overall median percentages for good KAP was 51.6% with knowledge of 28.3%, attitude 67.8%, and practice 58.6% respectively. Independent predictors of good knowledge of COVID-19 were being students ≥25 (95%CI=0.27-0.93, P=0.02), those taking bachelor degree (95%CI=1.17-2.07, P=0.00) and those having participated in COVID-19 treatment training. Conclusion: The result of this study revealed suboptimal COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude, and practice among health care students in China. To effectively control future outbreaks of COVID-19, there is a need to implement public sensitization programs to improve the understanding of COVID-19 and address COVID-19-related myths and misconceptions, especially among health care students.