Knowledge, attitude, and practice of university students toward COVID-19 in Sudan: An online-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: On March 11, 2020, the WHO has declared that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic infection. People's commitment to the recommended control measures is generally affected by their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) concerning COVID-19; hence, this study aimed to assess the KAPs of university students in Sudan regarding COVID-19. Materials and Methods: This was an online descriptive cross-sectional study, performed between April and June 2020 among Sudanese students enrolled in 10 universities in Khartoum state. The study was conducted using an online questionnaire designed in Arabic. The sample size in this study was 657 students. Data were collected by a convenience sampling method and were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Results: More than 60% of the participants were females, around two-thirds (68.1%) aged between 18 and 23 years. More than 81% of the participants live in urban areas; approximately two-fifth (59.5%) of them were medical students. About 59% of the participants have sufficient knowledge. Twenty-two percent of the participants reported a positive attitude, while 71% of them reported a fair attitude, and only 3.8% reported a negative attitude. Nearly 94% of them do not go out of home, and 95% do use disinfectants, solutions, and face masks to prevent contacting and spreading COVID-19. Knowledge was significantly associated with age, gender, study level, being medical or nonmedical students, attending online lectures or webinars about COVID-19, and educational level, while attitude was significantly associated with gender. Conclusion: More than half of the participants had sufficient knowledge, and the minority of them had a negative attitude toward COVID-19, while most of them had a good practice. Gender and attending online lectures or webinars about COVID-19 were the predictors for participant's knowledge.