Assessment of senior students knowledge on issues of bronchial asthma

Despite significant advances in the diagnosis and development of many clinical recommendations for the treatment of bronchial asthma, the problem remains urgent According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of asthma patients in 2019 was 262 million, and 455,000 deaths from the disease were reported. The paper presents the results of a survey among fourth- and sixth-year students, with an assessment and comparison of the degree of their knowledge in the etiology, diagnosis, and pharmacotherapy of bronchial asthma. The purpose of this study is to compare and evaluate the level of knowledge of 4th and 6th year medical university students on the etiology, diagnosis, and therapy of bronchial asthma using anonymous questionnaires. The study was conducted as part of the ASSA project (the full name of the project is «Assessment of senior medical students in the field of bronchial asthma») in the 2023–2024 academic year at the Mari State University. An original questionnaire, consisting of 21 questions that comply with the recommendations of GINA 2021, was developed for the survey. The answers were evaluated on a scale where the correct answer gave 1 point, and the incorrect one — 0. To analyze the results, the following methods were used: descriptive statistics methods, Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, comparison of samples and questions using the Mann-Whitney U test, and the median criterion for independent samples. Qualitative variables were processed by means of four-field conjugacy tables using the chi-square (x2) test. A statistically significant difference was recorded when the level of bilateral p<0.05 was reached. 185 students participated in the survey (92 4th year students and 93 6th year students). The average response rate for all questionnaires (N=185) was 72.7 % among 4th year students and 69.8 % among 6th year students. The distribution of average response rate differs from normal, so its median was determined: for 4th year students, Me=78.5 % (61.9 % — 85.7 %), and for the 6th year students, Me=71.4 % (61.9 % — 81 %). There were significant differences between the total number of students (N=185) according to the Mann-Whitney U test (p = 0.03). Significant differences in knowledge on therapy of bronchial asthma between 4th and 6th year students were revealed. The 4th year students showed the best results in a number of issues, but the overall level of knowledge was quite high, despite significant gaps in understanding current therapeutic approaches to bronchial asthma. Thus, the results of the study emphasize the need to improve educational programs on bronchial asthma, focusing on modern treatment regimens.