Ebola Disease: Knowledge, attitude, and practices among medical students at a tertiary institution in Uganda

Background Ebolavirus Disease (EVD) has been a public health threat since its discovery in 1976 with occasional outbreaks on the African continent. This study sought to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) among medical students at a tertiary university in Uganda.

We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using WhatsApp Messenger among students in their clinical years. A pre-validated questionnaire was adapted and modified to assess KAP towards EVD. All analyses were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.0. Bloom’s cutoff of 80% was used to assess sufficient knowledge (≥80%), good attitude (≥6.4) and good practices (≥4.8).

A total of 339 participated, majority were males (n=210, 61.9%) with mean age of 24.2 years (Standard Deviation: 4.0). 77.9% (n=264) were pursuing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Overall, 13.6% (n=46) had sufficient knowledge, 10.9% (n=37) had good attitude and 32.7% (n=111) had good practices. 54.9% (n=186) always avoided patients with signs and symptoms suggestive of EVD while 11.8% (n=40) would accept an approved ebolavirus vaccine.

These results revealed suboptimal EVD-related KAP among medical students. We recommend training of students on clinical presentation, transmission, treatment and prevention of EVD to effectively control future outbreaks. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement Yes Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The proposal was approved by The Aids Support Organisation Research and Ethics Committee (TASO REC) Protocol Number TASO-2023-250. All participants signed a written informed consent. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data Availability All relevant data are within the manuscript and its supporting information files.