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Knowledge of Human Monkeypox and Its Relation to Conspiracy Beliefs among Students in Jordanian Health Schools : Filling the Knowledge Gap on Emerging Zoonotic Viruses

Sallam, Malik LU ; Al-Mahzoum, Kholoud ; Dardas, Latefa Ali ; Al-Tammemi, Ala’a B. ; Al-Majali, Laith ; Al-Naimat, Hala ; Jardaneh, Laila ; AlHadidi, Farah ; Al-Salahat, Khaled and Al-Ajlouni, Eyad , et al. (2022) In Medicina (Lithuania) 58(7).
Abstract

Background and Objective: The recent multi-country outbreak of human monkeypox (HMPX) in non-endemic regions poses an emerging public health concern. University students in health schools/faculties represent a core knowledgeable group that can be helpful to study from a public health point of view. As future healthcare workers, assessment of their knowledge and attitude towards emerging zoonotic viral infections can be helpful to assess their taught material and courses with potential improvement if gaps in knowledge were identified. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the level of HMPX knowledge, conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections, as well as their associated determinants among university students studying Medicine,... (More)

Background and Objective: The recent multi-country outbreak of human monkeypox (HMPX) in non-endemic regions poses an emerging public health concern. University students in health schools/faculties represent a core knowledgeable group that can be helpful to study from a public health point of view. As future healthcare workers, assessment of their knowledge and attitude towards emerging zoonotic viral infections can be helpful to assess their taught material and courses with potential improvement if gaps in knowledge were identified. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the level of HMPX knowledge, conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections, as well as their associated determinants among university students studying Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, and Rehabilitation in Jordanian health schools/faculties. In addition, we sought to evaluate the correlation between HMPX knowledge and the extent of holding conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging viral infection. Materials and Methods: A convenient sample of university students was obtained through an electronic survey distributed in late May 2022 using the chain-referral approach. Assessment of HMPX knowledge and general attitude towards emerging virus infections was based on survey items adopted from previously published literature. Results: The study sample comprised 615 students with a mean age of 20 years and a majority of females (432, 70.2%) and medical students (n = 351, 57.1%). Out of eleven monkeypox knowledge items, three were identified correctly by >70% of the respondents. Only 26.2% of the respondents (n = 161) knew that vaccination to prevent monkeypox is available. Age was significantly associated with better HMPX knowledge for a majority of items. Older age, females, and affiliation to non-medical schools/faculties were associated with harboring higher levels of conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections. Our data also indicate that lower levels of HMPX knowledge were associated with higher levels of conspiracy beliefs. Conclusion: The current study pointed to generally unsatisfactory levels of knowledge regarding the emerging HMPX among university students in Jordanian health schools/faculties. Conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections were widely prevalent, and its potential detrimental impact on health behavior should be evaluated in future studies.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
attitude, biological warfare, conspiracy theory, lockdown, Orthopoxviruses, preventive behavior, rumors
in
Medicina (Lithuania)
volume
58
issue
7
article number
924
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85135137004
  • pmid:35888642
ISSN
1010-660X
DOI
10.3390/medicina58070924
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
042da5e9-12b8-47f0-83f7-4da8182ce871
date added to LUP
2022-11-29 14:56:51
date last changed
2024-06-23 23:52:59
@article{042da5e9-12b8-47f0-83f7-4da8182ce871,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background and Objective: The recent multi-country outbreak of human monkeypox (HMPX) in non-endemic regions poses an emerging public health concern. University students in health schools/faculties represent a core knowledgeable group that can be helpful to study from a public health point of view. As future healthcare workers, assessment of their knowledge and attitude towards emerging zoonotic viral infections can be helpful to assess their taught material and courses with potential improvement if gaps in knowledge were identified. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the level of HMPX knowledge, conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections, as well as their associated determinants among university students studying Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, and Rehabilitation in Jordanian health schools/faculties. In addition, we sought to evaluate the correlation between HMPX knowledge and the extent of holding conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging viral infection. Materials and Methods: A convenient sample of university students was obtained through an electronic survey distributed in late May 2022 using the chain-referral approach. Assessment of HMPX knowledge and general attitude towards emerging virus infections was based on survey items adopted from previously published literature. Results: The study sample comprised 615 students with a mean age of 20 years and a majority of females (432, 70.2%) and medical students (n = 351, 57.1%). Out of eleven monkeypox knowledge items, three were identified correctly by &gt;70% of the respondents. Only 26.2% of the respondents (n = 161) knew that vaccination to prevent monkeypox is available. Age was significantly associated with better HMPX knowledge for a majority of items. Older age, females, and affiliation to non-medical schools/faculties were associated with harboring higher levels of conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections. Our data also indicate that lower levels of HMPX knowledge were associated with higher levels of conspiracy beliefs. Conclusion: The current study pointed to generally unsatisfactory levels of knowledge regarding the emerging HMPX among university students in Jordanian health schools/faculties. Conspiracy beliefs regarding emerging virus infections were widely prevalent, and its potential detrimental impact on health behavior should be evaluated in future studies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sallam, Malik and Al-Mahzoum, Kholoud and Dardas, Latefa Ali and Al-Tammemi, Ala’a B. and Al-Majali, Laith and Al-Naimat, Hala and Jardaneh, Laila and AlHadidi, Farah and Al-Salahat, Khaled and Al-Ajlouni, Eyad and AlHadidi, Nadin Mohammad and Bakri, Faris G. and Mahafzah, Azmi and Harapan, Harapan}},
  issn         = {{1010-660X}},
  keywords     = {{attitude; biological warfare; conspiracy theory; lockdown; Orthopoxviruses; preventive behavior; rumors}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Medicina (Lithuania)}},
  title        = {{Knowledge of Human Monkeypox and Its Relation to Conspiracy Beliefs among Students in Jordanian Health Schools : Filling the Knowledge Gap on Emerging Zoonotic Viruses}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina58070924}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/medicina58070924}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}