Knowledge and Perception of Paediatric COVID-19 among Interns and Final Year Medical Students - A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: In India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) reports that 8% of the COVID-19 cases were contributed by children less than 17 years which could be a sizable number considering our population size. In a resource-limited country like India, the immediate future doctors will be expected to play a crucial role as frontline health care workers against COVID-19.Objective: To assess the knowledge and perception of students with regard to paediatric COVID-19.Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among medical students of Final year MBBS (Part I and II) and Interns/CRRIs (Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship) from two medical colleges of Chennai. After obtaining ethical approval, data werecollected using a validated structured self-administered questionnaire through online Google forms and analysed using SPSS version21 software.Results: Of the 655 participants included in the study, 213 (32.5%) were Final MBBS Part I students, 278 (42.4%) final MBBS Part II students and 164 (25.1%) were CRRIs. Most participants (83.2%) had adequate knowledge. 68.7% agreed to work in paediatric fever clinics. Majority were confident about their competency in counseling parents of children (90.7%) and adequate PPE measures (86%). However, few participants (26.3%) felt they were competent to identify complications in children.Conclusion: With COVID-19 pandemic in its second year, the medical students have developed adequate knowledge of COVID-19 in paediatric patients and they can help the health workers in times of need.