Perception of the risk of SARS CoV-2 infection among 1st year Health Professions students: a qualitative study.

Stefania Bandini; Elena Rossi; Matteo Montalti; Stefano Martinelli; Cleta Sacchetti; Claudio Gaddoni; Deborah Deserri; Orietta Valentini

doi:10.23750/abm.v95i6.16130

Perception of the risk of SARS CoV-2 infection among 1st year Health Professions students: a qualitative study.

Authors

Stefania Bandini Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2942-1605
Elena Rossi Montecatone Institute Rehabilitation, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0610-0892
Matteo Montalti Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1994-8788
Stefano Martinelli Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8838-8673
Cleta Sacchetti Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3724-0545
Claudio Gaddoni Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3883-8779
Deborah Deserri Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0079-650X
Orietta Valentini Department of SSU Formazione, Azienda USL di Imola, Imola, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1390-3319

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v95i6.16130

Keywords:

health care students, perception risk of SARS-CoV-2 , COVID-19, qualitative research

Abstract

Background and aim: The 1st Academic Year students of health professions degree courses of the University of Bologna carried out the curricular internship according to the teaching system during the pandemic period. The objective was to identify the elements determining the perception of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection both before and after the internship experience, with the aim of identifying the experience of the elements determining the risk of infection and the behaviours adopted for the management of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pandemic context.

Methods: it is a descriptive qualitative study with convenience voluntary recruitment; for data collection, focus groups were carried out both before and after the internship experience.

Results: it emerged that the pandemic was not an obstacle to the internship, that was perceived as an opportunity for growth and development of the chosen profession; students were not afraid of getting infected by COVID-19, they felt responsible for preventive behaviours and the use of Personal Protective Equipment and Medical Device; anxiety and fear levels were very reduced and in any case decreased in a short time since the beginning of the internship.

Conclusions: further study developments could be aimed at assessing the perception of the risk of infection in the real context and with the use of prevention and protection measures.

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