Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 among medical and allied health students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Context: Notwithstanding the recognizable impact on public health, knowledge regarding this virus remains inadequate.
Aims: This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical and allied health students regarding COVID‑19 and its relationship to their demographic information.
Setting and Design: This study was conducted at the University of Hail, Hail region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study used a quantitative comparative‑correlational design.
Materials and Methods: There were 232 students recruited as respondents resulting from convenience sampling. A Google Forms survey was used to collect the data from March 2, 2020, until April 15, 2020.
Statistical Analysis Used: One‑way ANOVA, t‑test, and Pearson’s correlation test were used to analyze the data.
Results: The participants had good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices on COVID‑19. Of all the variables tested, only gender (P < 0.002) has statistical difference to knowledge. The Pearson’s results showed no significant relationship between knowledge and attitudes (P > 0.5), knowledge and practices (P > 0.5), or attitudes and practices (P > 0.5).
Conclusion: With the good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices of the participants about COVID‑19, it is inferred that they can help to do information dissemination needed by the community. As females found to be more knowledgeable than males, female involvement in prevention and information of COVID‑19 in the family dynamics of the Saudi context is worth considering. Moreover, male participants’ knowledge should be improved through health education.