Monkeypox awareness, knowledge, and attitude among undergraduate preclinical and clinical students at a Malaysian dental school: An emerging outbreak during the COVID-19 era

• Published in: Asian Pacific journal of tropical medicine 2022-10, Vol.15 (10), p.461-467
• Main Authors: Lin, Galvin, Tan, Wen, Chan, Daryl, Ooi, Kai, Hashim, Hasnah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: communicable disease; monkeypox virus; public health; tropical disease; zoonoses
• ISSN: 1995-7645; 2352-4146; 2352-4146
• DOI: 10.4103/1995-7645.359787

Objective: To evaluate the awareness, knowledge, and attitude on monkeypox viral infection among preclinical and clinical dental students in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 229 preclinical and clinical dental students via an online self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire included 3 items on awareness, 15 items on knowledge, 9 items on attitude and 2 open-ended questions. Data were presented as frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was used to compare knowledge and awareness scores between preclinical and clinical dental students and content analysis was performed for open-ended responses. Results: Preclinical and clinical dental students were aware of the existence of monkeypox (89.5% and 94.4%, respectively), that the disease emerged in non-endemic countries (81.0% and 87.1%, respectively) and that it was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (73.3% and 79.0%, respectively). Clinical dental students' overall knowledge level was significantly higher than preclinical dental students (P=0.014). Both preclinical (95.2%) and clinical (96.8%) dental students demonstrated positive attitudes toward monkeypox with no significant difference (P=0.736) noted between them. Three themes emerged from the open-ended questions: (1) reimplementation of nationwide lockdown, (2) impact on the economy and health, and (3) disruption to the educational system. Students also anticipated their face-to-face learning to be reduced should there be a new outbreak. Conclusions: Both preclinical and clinical dental students showed comparable awareness and attitudes, while the latter demonstrated greater satisfactory knowledge toward the re-emergence of monkeypox during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, efforts to improve dental students' understanding of this alarming outbreak are required, to safeguard their health and minimise transmission.