Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Readiness to Practice Regarding Disaster Medicine and Preparedness Among University Health Students

ABSTRACTObjectives:The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge (K), attitude (A), and readiness to practice (rP) levels regarding disaster medicine and preparedness among health profession students at Qatar University.Methods:A survey-based study was carried out to assess medical, pharmacy, and health sciences students’ KArP levels using pretested and validated questionnaire. Student’s t-test, analysis of variance, correlation, and linear regression were used with an alpha level of 0.05.Results:The difference in the mean KArP level between genders was not significant (P > 0.05). Students from the College of Health Sciences had significantly higher KArP levels than those from the College of Pharmacy (101.5 vs 90.0; P = 0.033). Overall, Qatari students had better knowledge, attitude, and readiness to practice scores and total KArP scores than non-Qatari students. Moreover, students who were born in Qatar also had better knowledge, attitude, and readiness to practice scores and total KArP scores than students who were born outside Qatar. Significant direct moderate correlations were found among the 3 KArP parameters (P < 0.001). Knowledge and attitudes were indicated to be significant predictors of readiness to practice (P < 0.001).Conclusions:Students from the health colleges at Qatar University have moderate disaster medicine preparedness