Adequacy of preventive measures, awareness, and attitude regarding the COVID-19 pandemic among university pharmacy students

Introduction: The aim was to investigate the adequacy of preventive measures, awareness, and attitudes of pharmacy university students in the Punjab province, Pakistan, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was designed at a private university in Faisalabad, Pakistan. The questionnaire was developed on Google forms and distributed to students of five universities in the Punjab province via WhatsApp groups. Results: The comparison of COVID-19 knowledge for specific questions showed that non-pharmacy students (NPS) had significantly better knowledge about the source of the virus (p<0.001), while pharmacy students (PS) had better knowledge regarding COVID-19 treatment (p=0.01). The PS’s perception of the dangerousness and risk of contracting COVID-19 infection was better than NPS’s perception (p=0.026; p=0.019, respectively). The regression analysis revealed that the knowledge score was negatively associated with the female gender, and females were less likely to have a positive attitude. Conclusion: The authors’ results suggest that PS had good knowledge, positive attitude, and preparedness towards COVID-19. However, there are still misconceptions and confusion about the disease.