Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan

Masood, Sahabia; Alkubaisi, Noorah A.; Aslam, Maryam; Salman, Muhammad; Baraka, Mohamed A.; Mustafa, Zia Ul; Mallhi, Tauqeer Hussain; Khan, Yusra Habib; Meyer, Johanna C.; Godman, Brian

doi:10.3390/healthcare11202777

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan

by

Sahabia Masood

¹,

Noorah A. Alkubaisi

²

,

Maryam Aslam

³,

Muhammad Salman

⁴

,

Mohamed A. Baraka

^5,6,*

,

Zia Ul Mustafa

^7,8,*,

Tauqeer Hussain Mallhi

⁹

,

Yusra Habib Khan

⁹

,

Johanna C. Meyer

¹⁰

and

Brian Godman

^10,11,12

¹

Department of Medicine, University Medical and Dental College Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

²

Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

³

Basic Health Unit (BHU), 554GB, Tehsil Tandlianwala, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

⁴

Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan

⁵

Department of Pharmacy, Fatima College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 3798, United Arab Emirates

⁶

Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11651, Egypt

⁷

Discipline of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Penang, Malaysia

⁸

Department of Pharmacy Services, District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital, Pakpattan 57400, Pakistan

⁹

Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72388, Saudi Arabia

¹⁰

Department of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0208, South Africa

¹¹

Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science (SIPBS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0RE, UK

¹²

Centre of Medical and Bio-Allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman P.O. Box 346, United Arab Emirates

Show full affiliation list

Hide full affiliation list

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Healthcare 2023, 11(20), 2777; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11202777

Submission received: 4 September 2023 / Revised: 22 September 2023 / Accepted: 26 September 2023 / Published: 20 October 2023

Download

Browse Figures

Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency in June 2022. In Pakistan, positive cases of monkeypox were reported in April 2023. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are considered as a front-line force to combat such outbreaks. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 11 public sector educational institutions in Punjab, Pakistan, during May and June 2023 among final year medical, pharmacy, and nursing students concerning their knowledge of monkeypox. This included the signs/symptoms of monkeypox. Healthcare students were chosen as they are the HCWs of tomorrow. A total of 389 healthcare students participated in the study, with a mean age of 23.17 ± 1.72 years, and the majority were female. The mean knowledge score was 17.69 ± 4.55 (95% CI 17.24–18.14) out of a maximum total knowledge score of 26 (each correct answer was given a score of 1). The proportion of students with good, moderate, and poor knowledge was 21.6%, 43.2%, and 35.2%, respectively. Age (p = 0.017), gender (p < 0.001), and education (p < 0.001) had a significant impact on the knowledge score. In the multivariate linear regression model, education was the only significant factor linked to knowledge scores. Overall, the majority of future HCWs had moderate knowledge of monkeypox. Consequently, educational activities are needed to improve monkeypox-related knowledge among future HCWs. Furthermore, emerging infectious diseases should be routinely incorporated into HCW curricula.

Keywords: outbreak; monkeypox; medical; knowledge; healthcare students; Pakistan

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Masood, S.; Alkubaisi, N.A.; Aslam, M.; Salman, M.; Baraka, M.A.; Mustafa, Z.U.; Mallhi, T.H.; Khan, Y.H.; Meyer, J.C.; Godman, B. Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan. Healthcare 2023, 11, 2777. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11202777

AMA Style

Masood S, Alkubaisi NA, Aslam M, Salman M, Baraka MA, Mustafa ZU, Mallhi TH, Khan YH, Meyer JC, Godman B. Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan. Healthcare. 2023; 11(20):2777. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11202777

Chicago/Turabian Style

Masood, Sahabia, Noorah A. Alkubaisi, Maryam Aslam, Muhammad Salman, Mohamed A. Baraka, Zia Ul Mustafa, Tauqeer Hussain Mallhi, Yusra Habib Khan, Johanna C. Meyer, and Brian Godman. 2023. "Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan" Healthcare 11, no. 20: 2777. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11202777

APA Style

Masood, S., Alkubaisi, N. A., Aslam, M., Salman, M., Baraka, M. A., Mustafa, Z. U., Mallhi, T. H., Khan, Y. H., Meyer, J. C., & Godman, B. (2023). Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan. Healthcare, 11(20), 2777. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11202777

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Knowledge of Human Monkeypox Infection among Final Year Medical, Pharmacy, and Nursing Students: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Analysis from Pakistan

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI