Attitudes, knowledge and practices of medical students to control of communicable diseases through vaccination

Uvod: Po podatkih Svetovne zdravstvene organizacije se ocenjuje, da s cepljenjem preprečimo med 2 in 3 milijone smrti vsako leto. Zelo pomembno je, da so cepljeni zdravstveni delavci, vključno s študenti zdravstvenih poklicev, ki jih nekatere nalezljive bolezni še bolj ogrožajo. Ti so stalno v stiku z bolniki in nosilci povzročiteljev bolezni. Če se ne cepijo s tem ogrožajo sebe, svoje domače in svoje paciente. Namen: Preučiti stališča, znanja in prakse študentov medicine do obvladovanja nalezljivih bolezni s cepljenjem. Metode dela: Izvedla sem anonimno anketo med študenti 1. in 6. letnika Medicinske fakultete Univerze v Mariboru (skupaj 160 študentov) v študijskem letu 2015/2016 v aprilu in maju 2016. Opravila sem deskriptivno analizo zbranih odgovorov. Rezultati: Vprašalnik je izpolnilo 109 (68%) študentov. Vsi anketirani študenti šestega letnika zaupajo cepljenju in cepivom. 95% anketiranih študentov 6. letnika meni, da so cepiva varna in ne ogrožajo zdravja otrok. Le 1% študentov prvega in 5% študentov šestega letnika se redno cepi proti gripi. 16% študentov 1. in 21% študentov 6. letnika bi se odločilo za cepljenje proti hepatitisu B tudi, če to ne bi bilo obvezno. Razprava in zaključek: Znanje študentov medicine, ki so sodelovali v raziskavi ni bilo zadovoljivo. Anketirani študenti niso prepoznali takšne stopnje pomembnosti cepljenja kot bi si želela stroka, zato bo na tem področju potrebna okrepitev programa izobraževanja študentov. Rezultati moje raziskave bodo služili kot osnova za spremljanje stanja in predstavljali izhodišče za nadaljnje bolj podrobne raziskave na tem področju.Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that between 2 and 3 million deaths are prevented each year through immunization. It is very important that health care workers (including students of health professions) are vaccinated due to higher risk of infectious diseases. They are in constant contact with patients and carriers of pathogens, thererefore if they do not vaccinate they endanger themselves, their family/friends and their patients. Purpose: To study the attitudes, knowledge and practices of medical students to control of communicable diseases through vaccination. Methods: I conducted anonymous survey among students of 1st and 6th grade of the Medical Faculty of the University of Maribor (a total of 160 students) in the academic year 2015/2016 in April and May 2016. I have done a descriptive analysis of the collected answers. Results: The questionnaire was responded by 109 (68 %) students. All 6th grade students trust in vaccination and vaccines. 95 % of 6th grade students believe that vaccines are safe and do not endanger the health of children. Only 1% of 1st grade students and 5% of 6th grade students are regularly vaccinated against the flu. 16 % of 1st grade students and 21 % of 6th grade students would opt for vaccination against hepatitis B, even if this would not be mandatory. Discussion and conclusion: Knowledge of medical students who participated in the survey was not satisfactory. The surveyed students did not recognize the importance of vaccination as we would like, therefore, there will still be needed more activities to improve that. The results of this work will serve as a basis for monitoring and a starting point for further more detailed research in this area