Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): Awareness among Future Health Care Providers of United Arab Emirates

Introduction: Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) has become a significant global public health concern. Recent outbreaks of this syndrome have occurred in several countries, with the major outbreaks in Saudi Arabia, Korea and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The present study assessed the awareness of students of a Medical and Health Sciences University in UAE towards MERS. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 500 university students. The study employed a specially designed, pretested and validated questionnaire based on World Health Organization factsheet for MERS for assessing the knowledge of the respondents regarding MERS. Results: Of the 500 participants, majority (303; 60.6%) presented with good knowledge regarding MERS. The mean knowledge score of the respondents was 10.71 ± 4.23 with medical college students having the highest score of 11.87 ± 4.07 followed by dental, nursing and pharmacy students. Gender, college and year of study and participation in educational lecture or conference on MERS were significantly associated with the knowledge level. Males possessed significantly (p<0.001) better knowledge than females. Medical students had significantly (p<0.001) better knowledge of MERS as compared to students from other colleges. As the year of study progressed the awareness regarding MERS also significantly (p<0.001) improved. Conclusion: The study participants presented with good knowledge of MERS – a novel viral respiratory potentially serious disease. With recent outbreaks of this syndrome in the region there is a need for medical and health sciences students, who will be the future healthcare providers, to appraise their knowledge of MERS and contribute towards raising awareness about such outbreaks.