Should We Focus More on Teaching and Training Disaster Management in Health-care Colleges? An Insight into the Students' Knowledge, Attitude, and Readiness to Practice

BACKGROUND: The critical aspects of risk management for students are providing knowledge, building positive attitudes, and readiness to practice. Our study aimed to assess Chinese health-care university students' knowledge (K), attitude (A), and readiness to practice (rP) regarding disaster medicine and preparedness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was carried out using a self-administered disaster medicine and preparedness questionnaire. Three main outcome measures were K (22 items), A (16 items), and rP (11 items). Responses were scored and classified as high, moderate, and low. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 769 valid questionnaires were collected. The associations between K, A, and rP scores was significant, i.e., K–A scores (r = 0.449, P = 0.000), K–rP scores (r = 0.312, P = 0.000), and A–rP scores (r = 0.656, P = 0.000). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated direct low-to-moderate effects of gender, age, attitude, and knowledge on readiness to practice (R(2) = 0.198; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study discovered that most of the students had a moderate level of knowledge, moderate level of attitude, high level of readiness to practice, and a moderate level of total KArP. K, A, and rP were significantly correlated, and K and A were predictors for rP among the health-care students. The findings indicate the importance of health-care colleges for building students' knowledge, attitudes, and readiness to practice disaster medicine and preparedness before joining the profession.