Knowledge and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination among Undergraduate Students from Central and Southern Italy.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Galle F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8230551 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Adherence to preventive measures is influenced by people's knowledge, attitudes and practices towards a disease; therefore, assessing knowledge of COVID-19 is critical in the overall effort to contain the outbreak. This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduates (n = 3621) of different programs and different levels of education associated with universities in north-central Ecuador. The form consisted of 32 questions covering demographics, symptoms, detection, treatment, transmission, prevention and knowledge of the virus. The rate of correct answers was 75.5% (21.1 ± 5 out of 28), with differences observed regarding program of study, educational level and location of institution (α = 0.05), although effect size analyses showed that these differences could not be considered large. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that lower scores were associated with initial stages of education, careers related to social sciences and location of institution. Participants possessed sufficient knowledge about detection, transmission and prevention, although they overestimated fatality rate and were less confident about the characteristics of the virus and the effectiveness of traditional medicine. Consequently, future educational programs must place emphasis on addressing deficient knowledge. Certainly, improving COVID-19 literacy will promote the appropriate application of protective measures aimed at preventing the virus' spread.
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Project description:The objectives of this study were to obtain information on medical students' attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination and to identify the main barriers to its acceptance. We conducted an anonymous online survey on a sample of undergraduate medical students from one main Italian University. The questions were aimed at exploring their attitudes toward vaccination to prevent COVID-19, their perceptions of the risk/threat of COVID-19 and the factors associated with their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination. A high percentage of students in our sample stated that they had been vaccinated or that they intended to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus. A total of 239 questionnaires were analyzed. Age, social, geographic and demographic characteristics, health conditions and interest in vaccination were recorded; 93% of the students declared that they encouraged vaccination and 83% stated that the reason was "Moral responsibility towards the community". Four students had not yet been vaccinated, mainly because of "Contradictory information on efficacy and safety". The Likert-type questions revealed high agreement on the importance of vaccination and whether it should be made mandatory ("indispensable tool" and "ethical duty" were cited to explain this position). The results show a high level of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among these medical undergraduates who, being halfway through their training and involved in clinical practice, are already in possession of specific scientific knowledge and, to a small extent, come from different areas of Italy.
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Project description:AimsTo describe the level of knowledge of undergraduate students in Jordan toward COVID-19 in children in respect of the clinical signs of the disease, modes of transmission, protection measures against the disease and satisfaction with governmental measures.DesignA cross-section was utilized in this study.MethodsAn online survey questionnaire was utilized in this research study. All undergraduate students in Jordan were able to take part. The size of the sample was 799. Knowledge toward COVID-19 among children was used to assess the participants' knowledge about COVID-19.ResultsThe findings indicate that the students had a good understanding of the clinical signs, mode of transmission and protection measures and were satisfied with governmental measures. According to the students' responses, the resource they used the most was social media followed by news channels. Our study also found that medical specialty students had more knowledge toward COVID-19 than non-medical.
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Project description:Background The hesitancy in taking the COVID-19 vaccine is a global challenge. The need to identify predictors of COVID-19 vaccine reluctance is critical. Our objectives were to evaluate sociodemographic, psychological, and behavioral factors, as well as attitudes and beliefs that influence COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy in the general population of Italy. Methods A total of 2,015 people were assessed in two waves (March, April and May, 2021). Participants were divided into three groups: (1) individuals who accepted the vaccination (“accepters”); (2) individuals who refused the vaccination (“rejecters”); and (3) individuals who were uncertain about their attitudes toward the vaccination (“fence sitters”). Group comparisons were performed using ANOVA, the Kruskal-Wallis test and chi-square tests. The strength of the association between the groups and the participants' characteristics was analyzed using a series of multinomial logistic regression models with bootstrap internal validation (one for each factor). Results The “fence sitters” group, when compared to the others, included individuals of younger age, lower educational level, and worsening economic situation in the previous 3 months. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, the following features emerged as the main risk factors for being “fence sitters” (compared with vaccine “accepters”): reporting lower levels of protective behaviors, trust in institutions and informational sources, frequency of use of informational sources, agreement with restrictions and higher conspirative mentality. Higher levels of COVID-19 perceived risk, trust in institutions and informational sources, frequency of use of informational sources, agreement with restrictions and protective behaviors were associated with a higher likelihood of becoming “fence sitters” rather than vaccine “rejecters.” Conclusions The “fence sitters” profile revealed by this study is intriguing and should be the focus of public programmes aimed at improving adherence to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
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Project description:The dataset presented in this paper is an examination of COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude, and practice among Indonesian undergraduate students. The data were collected during first month of college or university closure due to COVID-19 through a survey distributed via an online questionnaire, assessing sociodemographic information (6 items), knowledge (18 items), attitude (6 item), and practice (12 items), from 27th April and 2nd May 2020, gathering a total of 6,249 responses. A combination of purposive and snowball techniques helped to select the respondents via Whatsapp from more than ten universities in Indonesia. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data will assist in preventing and curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the university and can assist with planning for educational interventions for students' awareness.
| S-EPMC7291994 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAlthough vaccination of nursing students in clinical practice is important due to the possibility of COVID-19 infection and subsequent transmission to patients, some nursing students are hesitant to get vaccinated. Thus, it is necessary to identify the actual intentions and motivations of nursing students who have been vaccinated for COVID-19, even if their decisions were driven by clinical practice policy. The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among vaccinated nursing students in clinical practice and to examine their reasons for getting vaccinated despite such hesitancy.MethodA cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted at two tertiary hospitals in South Korea from November 20, 2021, to December 17, 2021. The study recruited a convenience sample of 125 nursing students who were vaccinated for COVID-19. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and independent t-test.ResultsOf the 125 nursing students, 51 (40.8%) reported vaccine hesitancy, among whom 88.2% reported that their hesitancy was due to the adverse effects and instability of the vaccine. It was also found that 70.6% of nursing students in the vaccine-hesitant group were eventually vaccinated due to clinical practice policy, whereas 67.6% of nursing students in the non-hesitant group were vaccinated to protect their health.ConclusionsCOVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is prevalent among nursing students. Therefore, specific efforts should be made to provide education focusing on the safety, benefits, and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, implement mandatory vaccination policies for clinical practice, and give priority to vaccination opportunities to nursing students in order to reduce the hesitancy of nursing students to vaccines.
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Project description:BackgroundDental practitioners and dental students are classified as high-risk exposure to COVID-19 due to the nature of dental treatments, but evidence of their acceptance towards COVID-19 vaccination is still scarce. Hence, this systemic review aims to critically appraise and analyse the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination among dental students and dental practitioners.Materials and methodsThis review was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42021286108) based on PRISMA guidelines. Cross-sectional articles on the dental students' and dental practitioners' acceptance towards COVID-19 vaccine published between March 2020 to October 2021 were searched in eight online databases. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool was employed to analyse the risk of bias (RoB) of each article, whereas the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine recommendation tool was used to evaluate the level of evidence. Data were analysed using the DerSimonian-Laird random effect model based on a single-arm approach.ResultsTen studies were included of which three studies focused on dental students and seven studies focused on dental practitioners. Four studies were deemed to exhibit moderate RoB and the remaining showed low RoB. All the studies demonstrated Level 3 evidence. Single-arm meta-analysis revealed that dental practitioners had a high level of vaccination acceptance (81.1%) than dental students (60.5%). A substantial data heterogeneity was observed with the overall I2 ranging from 73.65% and 96.86%. Furthermore, subgroup analysis indicated that dental practitioners from the Middle East and high-income countries showed greater (p < 0.05) acceptance levels, while meta-regression showed that the sample size of each study had no bearing on the degree of data heterogeneity.ConclusionsDespite the high degree of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among dental practitioners, dental students still demonstrated poor acceptance. These findings highlighted that evidence-based planning with effective approaches is warranted to enhance the knowledge and eradicate vaccination hesitancy, particularly among dental students.
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Project description:In order to develop the strategy more suitable campus-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prevention programs for undergraduate students, it is critical to identify discrepancies in knowledge of COVID-19 prevention among students from different campuses in China. The present study examined the difference in preventive knowledge about COVID-19 pandemic in undergraduate students from two cities of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), which had very few cases of COVID-19 patients, and Zhuhai, which is borders Macao SAR. In August 2020, two cohorts of undergraduate students from universities in Macao (n = 977) and Zhuhai (n = 2,818) were recruited for online. The self-rating questionnaire was used to gain information about their knowledge in COVID-19 prevention. Macao and Zhuhai students had similar correct rates in terms of heat inactivation conditions of SARS-CoV-2, (76.8% vs. 76.9%, P = 0.950), etiquette when coughing and sneezing (75.9% vs. 75.0%, P = 0.562), and use of disposable masks (92.2% vs. 90.6%, P = 0.126). However, students from Macao had significantly higher rates in correct use of disinfectants against SARS-CoV-2 (24.6% vs. 17.5%, P < 0.001) and in the route of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (84.5% vs. 79.6%, P < 0.001) than those from Zhuhai. In conclusion, the knowledge level of COVID-19 prevention differs among undergraduate students from Macao and Zhuhai, which warrants an appropriate region-specific health education strategie for COVID-19 prevention.
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Project description:Faced with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the development of COVID-19 vaccines has been progressing at an unprecedented rate. This study aimed to evaluate the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination in China and give suggestions for vaccination strategies and immunization programs accordingly. In March 2020, an anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted online among Chinese adults. The questionnaire collected socio-demographic characteristics, risk perception, the impact of COVID-19, attitudes, acceptance and attribute preferences of vaccines against COVID-19 during the pandemic. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the influencing factors of vaccination acceptance. Of the 2058 participants surveyed, 1879 (91.3%) stated that they would accept COVID-19 vaccination after the vaccine becomes available, among whom 980 (52.2%) wanted to get vaccinated as soon as possible, while others (47.8%) would delay the vaccination until the vaccine's safety was confirmed. Participants preferred a routine immunization schedule (49.4%) to emergency vaccination (9.0%) or either of them (41.6%). Logistic regression showed that being male, being married, perceiving a high risk of infection, being vaccinated against influenza in the past season, believing in the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination or valuing doctor's recommendations could increase the probability of accepting COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible, while having confirmed or suspected cases in local areas, valuing vaccination convenience or vaccine price in decision-making could hinder participants from immediate vaccination. During the pandemic period, a strong demand for and high acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination has been shown among the Chinese population, while concerns about vaccine safety may hinder the promotion of vaccine uptake. To expand vaccination coverage, immunization programs should be designed to remove barriers in terms of vaccine price and vaccination convenience, and health education and communication from authoritative sources are important ways to alleviate public concerns about vaccine safety.
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Project description:This cross-sectional study assessed nursing students' knowledge and attitudes about Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and vaccination in Italy. The survey was conducted among a sample of 556 nursing students. Almost all reported that they had heard about HPV infection, while only 36.5% knew the risk factors of HPV infection and that this could be prevented by the HPV vaccine. Those who had heard about HPV infection during their degree program were more likely to know risk factors of HPV infection and that this could be prevented by the HPV vaccine. The majority of students (65.3%) reported that they would be willing to receive the HPV vaccine. Moreover, 91.7% of participants reported that they were willing, as future health care operators, to recommend the HPV vaccine to others. Those who knew risk factors of HPV infection and that this could be prevented by the HPV vaccine, and those who knew that cervical cancer could be prevented by the HPV vaccine expressed this positive attitude about willingness to recommend the HPV vaccine. These results highlight the need to supplement nursing students' specific education, to improve their knowledge and awareness of HPV vaccination.
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