Research attitudes, knowledge, experiences, and barriers among health science students at King Khalid University, Southwest of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Research is a systematic process to achieve new knowledge, science, or invention. Training in health research is an important part of medical education. This study aimed to evaluate the attitudes, knowledge, experiences, and barriers related to research among the health science students at King Khalid University, Abha. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 632 health science students of different colleges of King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. From each study level, approximately 25% of the total number of students was selected using a systematic random sampling method. Tests for associations between different scale items and the type of college were used. The majority of students were mainly aged between 20 to 25 years and were males. Statistically significant differences in age distribution among the colleges (P