KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF PHARMACY STUDENTS TOWARDS COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS IMPACT ON THEIR EDUCATION AND LEARNING

Abstract

Knowledge, attitude and practice of precautionary and preventive measures towards a contagious disease like COVID-19 are vital to control the proliferation of the disease. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of the students of the college of pharmacy at King Saud University towards COVID-19 and its effect on their learning process. A web-based, cross-sectional questionnaire-oriented survey study was conducted in May 2020. All the students enrolled at the college of pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, were invited to participate in this study. 172 students took part in the study, of which 56.4% were females and 43.6% were males. The mean total knowledge score was 3.16 ± 1.11, ranging from 1 to 5. When answering the knowledge questions, there was no significant difference between male students (3.22 ± 0.98) and female students (3.11 ± 1.21). For the attitude and practice, more males were maintaining a social distance of 1 m from others than females, and it was also observed that more females thought that virtual classes are an effective learning tool than their male counterparts. The results of this study showed that pharmacy students had good knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic and displayed a positive attitude and good preventive and precautionary practices.