Suliman Mohamed Malik, Idriss Mona Timan, Alotaibi Nasser Hadal, Khan Yusra Habib, Mallhi Tauqeer Hussain
Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Medical Sciences and Preparation Year, Northern College of Nursing, Arar, Saudi Arabia.
PeerJ. 2025 Apr 4;13:e19162. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19162. eCollection 2025.
In light of the increasing prevalence of monkeypox (Mpox) infections worldwide, it is critical to assess the level of awareness regarding the disease and its transmission among healthcare students and professionals. Understanding the knowledge gaps within these groups is essential, as they play a vital role in infection prevention and public education.
This study aimed to assess healthcare students and professionals' knowledge and intention to educate the public regarding Mpox.
An anonymous survey consisting of 37 items was constructed utilizing scientific information pertaining to Mpox, obtained from sources such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and previous studies. The study sample comprised healthcare professionals and students who were residents of the Al-Jouf province in Saudi Arabia. Significant associations between sociodemographic data and the knowledge and intention to educate the public about Mpox were compared using statistical methods. The comparison of means for two or more than two groups were performed using Student -test and one-way ANOVA, respectively. Furthermore, ordinal logistic regression was employed for further analysis.
Out of 545 responses, 437 (80.2%) were incorporated into the final analysis. Almost half of the participants in the study were female (51.5%) and 44.2% fell within the age range of 20 to 25 years. Moreover, 49.7% of the participants were unmarried and 29.5% held a bachelor's degree. Over seven in ten participants were cognizant of the fact that Mpox is a public health emergency of international concern, whereas less than half of the participants were cognizant of the fact that Mpox has been reported in Saudi Arabia. The overall mean knowledge score was 10.40 ± 4.88 (score range: 0 to 21). Approximately 3.9% of the participants possess excellent knowledge (score > 17) and 44.9% possess average knowledge (score 12-17). The male gender, older participants, married, healthcare professionals and those in the medicine field were more knowledgeable. More than half of the study participants are willing to educate the public regarding Mpox, where overall intention score was 21.39 ± 6.84 (range 6 to 30). The female, married and those in the physiotherapy field showed more positive attitude and intention to educate the public regarding Mpox.
Despite the fact that the majority of participants had a high or moderate intention to educate the public about Mpox, their knowledge ranged from average to poor. In light of these findings, educational programs aimed at enhancing the knowledge and awareness of healthcare professionals and students regarding Mpox are required.
鉴于猴痘（Mpox）感染在全球范围内的患病率不断上升，评估医学生和医疗专业人员对该疾病及其传播的认知水平至关重要。了解这些群体中的知识差距至关重要，因为他们在感染预防和公众教育中发挥着至关重要的作用。
本研究旨在评估医学生和医疗专业人员关于猴痘的知识以及向公众进行教育的意愿。
利用从世界卫生组织（WHO）、疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）等来源以及先前研究中获取的与猴痘相关的科学信息，构建了一份包含37个项目的匿名调查问卷。研究样本包括沙特阿拉伯朱夫省的医疗专业人员和学生。使用统计方法比较社会人口统计学数据与关于猴痘的知识以及向公众进行教育的意愿之间的显著关联。两组或两组以上组的均值比较分别使用学生t检验和单因素方差分析。此外，采用有序逻辑回归进行进一步分析。
在545份回复中，437份（80.2%）被纳入最终分析。研究中几乎一半的参与者为女性（51.5%），44.2%的参与者年龄在20至25岁之间。此外，49.7%的参与者未婚，29.5%拥有学士学位。超过十分之七的参与者认识到猴痘是国际关注的突发公共卫生事件，而不到一半的参与者认识到沙特阿拉伯已报告猴痘病例。总体平均知识得分是10.40 ± 4.88（得分范围：0至21）。约3.9%的参与者拥有优秀知识（得分>17），44.9%拥有中等知识（得分12 - 17）。男性、年龄较大的参与者、已婚者、医疗专业人员以及医学领域的人员知识更丰富。超过一半的研究参与者愿意向公众宣传猴痘，总体意愿得分是21.39 ± 6.84（范围6至30）。女性、已婚者以及物理治疗领域的人员对向公众宣传猴痘表现出更积极的态度和意愿。
尽管大多数参与者有较高或中等意愿向公众宣传猴痘，但其知识水平从中等至较差不等。鉴于这些发现，需要开展旨在提高医疗专业人员和学生关于猴痘的知识和认识的教育项目。
