KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES TOWARDS COVID-19 AMONG MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS FROM WESTERN INDIA: A CROSS SECTION STUDY

Background: An emerging respiratory disease was abbreviated as COVID 19, after it has been first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan city of China. The major route of transmission of COVID-19 is droplet and close contact. Government of India has initiated training for health care workers at a different level. WHO and CDC also initiated a multidisciplinary approach to tackle COVID-19 of which awareness creation is the main. Thus, the main objective of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical undergraduates within periphery of Gujarat, India towards COVID-19. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 505 medical students were surveyed online using developed, validated questionnaire during two week period. A p-value of <0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: Among 505 students, 59% (n= 298) are males and 41% (n=207) are females. Medical students have 85 % very good knowledge towards covid-19 which is done during early phase of lockdown (25^th march 2020 to 19^th May 2020). About 81.6% positive attitude observed in study participants. We discovered that about 341(67.9%) respondents yielded positive practice toward COVID-19. Conclusion: Most of medical undergraduate students acquired generally an adequate knowledge, possess a positive attitude, and performed a good practice and proactive behaviours of preventive measures towards COVID-19.