The knowledge and Attitude toward COVID-19 and Their Association with Fear of Coronavirus Among Nursing and Midwifery Students in Ardabil Faculty

COVID-19 is one of the significant pathogens in humans that can cause illness in individuals to varying degrees. Given that students in medical sciences are considered as the future healthcare workforce of the country and are aligned with hospital staff at the forefront of combating emerging diseases, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and attitude of nursing and midwifery students in Ardabil University of Medical Sciences towards COVID-19 and its association with fear of coronavirus.

This is a descriptive-correlational study that has been conducted in 2022 in 265 ‎students of Ardabil Nursing and Midwifery faculty. The sample size was calculated based on Krejcie and Morgan table and stratified random sampling method was used. Data was ‎collected using questionnaires of measuring awareness and attitude and fear of contracting of covid- 19 and was analyzed by SPSS15 software with Pearson correlation, independent sample t- test and ANOVA statistical tests.

The average score of students' knowledge was 24.3 ± 11.92, attitude was 56.4 ± 28.33, and the average score of fear of contracting COVID-19 was 65.3 ± 52.11. A statistically significant negative correlation was observed between knowledge and fear of contracting COVID-19 (p < 0.001, r = -0.672). However, there was no statistically significant association between attitude and fear of contracting COVID-19 (p = 0.612, r = 0.067).

Based on the study results, it is suggested to design and implement appropriate educational and retraining programs to increase knowledge and provide platforms for improving students' attitudes towards COVID-19