Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
J Prev Med Hyg. 2023 Aug 1;64(2):E152-E160. doi: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2023.64.2.2934. eCollection 2023 Jun.
COVID-19 vaccines represent an important opportunity for defeating the disease, as long as high vaccination acceptance rates are achieved. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have a relevant role in the promotion of immunization among the population and since students in healthcare area will be HCWs it is crucial to provide more in-depth knowledge on vaccinations. Therefore, the aim of the study is to assess the knowledge of medical and pharmaceutical area students regarding COVID-19 vaccination and the impact of a specific Elective Teaching Activity (ETA) on the increase of students' knowledge. The ETA was held one year after the immunization campaign in Italy.
Students' knowledge was tested with a questionnaire before and after attending the course. Descriptive statistical methods were used to analyse the results obtained. Student's t-tests for paired data were used.
Overall, 387 students at the University of Florence attended the course and took the same test before and after the ETA on COVID-19 vaccines. Despite achieving satisfactory average scores in the pre-course test (26/32 ± 4.0), all students were able to significantly enhance their final score (+17.1%; p < 0.001), indicating that the ETA was highly effective in improving their knowledge of COVID-19 vaccination. Medical students demonstrated a better comprehension of the role of the medical specialist in public health in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, while some uncertainties were revealed regarding the role of pharmacists.
The results of this study confirm that specific training activities on vaccination are effective for implementing the knowledge of future health professionals.
只要实现高疫苗接种率，新冠疫苗就代表着战胜该疾病的重要机会。医护人员（HCWs）在促进民众接种疫苗方面发挥着重要作用，而由于医疗保健领域的学生将来也会成为医护人员，因此为他们提供更深入的疫苗接种知识至关重要。因此，本研究旨在评估医学和制药专业学生对新冠疫苗接种的认知，以及特定选修教学活动（ETA）对增加学生知识的影响。ETA 在意大利疫苗接种活动一年后举行。
学生在参加课程前后通过问卷测试来检验其知识。使用描述性统计方法分析获得的结果。采用学生配对 t 检验进行数据分析。
佛罗伦萨大学共有 387 名学生参加了课程并在参加 ETA 前后对新冠疫苗进行了相同的测试。尽管他们在课前测试中取得了令人满意的平均分数（26/32 ± 4.0），但所有学生的最终分数都显著提高（+17.1%；p < 0.001），这表明 ETA 非常有效地提高了他们对新冠疫苗接种的认识。医学生对医学专家在新冠疫苗接种活动中的公共卫生角色有更好的理解，而药剂师的角色则存在一些不确定性。
本研究结果证实，针对疫苗接种的专项培训活动对实施未来卫生专业人员的知识是有效的。
