National Survey: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards COVID-19 among Iraqi Pharmacy Students

Abstract

The recent infection by the COVID-19 virus has rapidly become a major health concern, both in terms of its strong impact on the health system, and economical burden. Assessment of pharmacy students' level of awareness, attitude, and knowledge about the recent COVID-19 infection in Iraq. A population-based cross-sectional study that involved pharmacy college students across the country, this study used an electronic-based questionnaire that was delivered to each of the participants online. The study included 907 pharmacy students, with 609 females (67.1%) and 298 males (32.9%), a ratio of 2:1. The fifth grade represented the majority, with 275 students (30.3%). Overall, 81.1% of all students knew about COVID-19 infection before the outbreak (which was similar across all grades, p-value = 0.160), the most common source of information was social medical (52%, followed by the WHO website (25.8%), in which the lower grades depended less on the WHO website. Most of the students (61%) believed 1-2 months ago that the COVID-19 infection was circulating in Iraq, while 29.2% only started to believe it within the previous 2 weeks. In terms of preventive measures, 89.1% believe that adhering to guidelines can prevent infection, 86.0% believe that infection control in hospitals can prevent transmission. Pharmacy students show a high level of awareness in terms of the medical aspect of the disease, good knowledge in the science about the virus. The students have a negative impression of the role of institutes towards the prevention of the spread of the infection.