Abstract:

Background: Occupational diseases can be prevented by implementing the appropriate occupational health and safety measures against occupational hazards in the workplace. Unfamiliarity with and mis-management of occupational diseases by physicians is often linked to inadequate medical training. This study aims to investigate medical students' awareness of, knowledge and attitudes towards oc-cupational health, exposure to occupational hazards, and preventive measures. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with medical students between March and June 2021. Due to the introduction of online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, the questionnaire was sent to the students in the electronic medium. The data analysis was performed with SPSS (version 21). Pearson chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for the comparison of the categorical variables for two independent groups. Results: Of the 547 medical students who participated in the study, 56.7% (n= 310) were female, and 43.3% (n=257) were male. The median age was 22 (18-30) years. Of the students, 29.4% (n=161) were attending the preclinical classes, 27.8% (n=152) were 6th-year, 21.9% (n=120) were 4th-year, and 20.8% (n=114) were 5th-year. Of the participants, 12.2% (n=67) scored their level of knowledge about the perceived occupational diseases 1 out of 5, 40% (n=219) scored 2 out of 5, 38.6% (n=211) scored 3 out of 5, 9.1% (n=50) scored 4 out of 5. It was found that the level of knowledge increased with the class level. Conclusions: This study showed that the medical students' knowledge about occupational diseases is at a moderate level, and it is essential to offer a dedicated course on occupational diseases during medical training in order to increase their knowledge about these diseases.

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