Knowledge and attitude of students of medical sciences universities regarding health tourism: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Health tourism is already one of the most important sources of revenue for many countries all over the world, but it appears that it has not progressed as much in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitudes of students of Iranian medical sciences universities about this subject, which could have a great impact on the future of this industry in Iran. METHODS: In this cross‐sectional study, the students of medical sciences universities in Iran were selected through convenience sampling; they filled out an online 36‐item self‐administrated questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 25). Descriptive statistics of knowledge and attitude were provided. Also, independent samples t‐test and analysis of variance were used as statistical tests and p value <0.05 was considered as the significant level. RESULTS: Overall, 390 students with a mean age of 24 ± 1.5 years and a female‐to‐male ratio of 1.9 participated in this study. The respondents answered 38% of the questions correctly in the knowledge section. Age, ethnicity, education level, job experience, experience of a health tourism‐related job, participation in health tourism courses, and geographical region of the province of residence showed a significant association with the participants' knowledge. Also, most participants had an almost positive attitude regarding the potential for development of the industry. CONCLUSION: According to the results obtained, the students' knowledge about health tourism was not desirable; however, their attitudes were almost positive. Therefore, educational interventions are highly recommended to be conducted in this regard.