CHAPTER 3

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The findings and analysis are organized in accordance with the study

goals. The general purpose of this study aims to determine the level of

knowledge and preparedness of Davao Doctors College Medical Laboratory

Science Interns. A sample of 73 interns responded to this research. In this study,

questionnaires were employed extensively for data gathering.

This research has two hypotheses and two null hypotheses associated

with the research questions:

H01: There is no significant relationship between the level of preventive

behavioral practice of the medical laboratory science interns and their level of

COVID-19 knowledge.

H02: There is no significant relationship between the level of preventive

behavioral practice of the medical laboratory science interns and their level of

COVID-19 risk perception.

 The study will provide baseline data on the population of Fourth year

BMLS students of Davao Doctor's College, level of knowledge, risk perception,

and preventive behavior regarding COVID-19. Its findings will be helpful in

developing practical and targeted interventions to prepare the succeeding batch

of Interns who will be conducting their internship program during a pandemic.

The online survey form is the instrument used for this study. There is a total of 88

respondents in a population where 74 of them are used as a sample with a 95%

confidence level imposed in the formula used.

Demographic profile of the Respondents

Table 1.1

The Frequency and Percentage of Age of the Respondents

Age Frequency Percentage

20 1 1%

21 23 31%

22 48 64%

23 2 4%

Total 73 100%

Among 74 participants, most are at the age of 22, with a frequency of 48

(64%). Some of the respondents are 21 years of age, accounting for 32% of the
total sample. Meanwhile, only 2 (4%) of the participants are aged 23, whereas

only 1 (1%) respondent is aged 20.

Table 1.2

The Frequency and Percentage of Gender of the Respondents

Sex Frequency Percentage

F 59 80%

M 15 20%

Total 73 100%

The study sought male and female perspectives on assessing BMLS

Interns' knowledge, risk perception, and preventive behavior regarding COVID-

19. A total of 74 respondents participated in the surveyed questionnaires, with

men accounting for 15 (20 percent of the overall sample) and females accounting

for 59 (80 percent of the overall sample). This implies that the number of females

who participated in the study was more than that of males.

Findings

Level of Knowledge of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science Interns

regarding COVID-19

Table 2

The Level of Knowledge of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science Interns

Regarding COVID-19

Factor Mean Point Score Level

Etiology 4.72 5 Excellent

Transmission 3.86 4 Good

Signs and
4.47 5 Excellent
Symptoms

Preventive and
4.51 5 Excellent
Control Measures

Treatment 4.19 4 Good

This section showed the data being collected and analyzed based on the

level of knowledge of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science Interns

regarding COVID-19 in terms of etiology, transmission, signs and symptoms,

preventive and control measures, as well as treatment. The results given above

are based on the Likert scale.

Etiology. Based on the table above, the results were given with a Likert's

review showing the factors involved. The level of knowledge of the interns in
terms of etiology is 5, with a mean of 4.72, which indicated that overall, the

respondents in the study had an excellent understanding of the cause of COVID-

19. A study about “Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19

among health care workers in public health facilities in eastern Ethiopia” results

give details that there is a higher frequency for those who have sufficient

knowledge in which all can understand the common factors in response to

awareness in what COVID-19 is (Farrah, A. et al. 2021).

Transmission. The researchers also wanted to evaluate the level of

knowledge among BMLS interns toward possible sources of COVID-19

transmission. 30% strongly believed that COVID-19 could be transmitted

zoonotically. Regarding the possibility of a healthy individual acquiring COVID-

19, 57% strongly agreed that a healthy individual could be infected. As a result,

the transmission factor had an equivalent of 4. It means that the respondents are

knowledgeable about some aspects, but some are needed to work out. A cross-

sectional study in South Korea (Lee M. et al., 2021) discovered a high

prevalence of misunderstanding, where 42.2% of the participants believed that

infection could occur through eating or having contact with wild animals.

According to CDC (2022), there is still no concrete evidence that animals play a

significant role in spreading SARS-CoV-2. More studies and experiments need to

be done on understanding how they differ from their transmission.

Signs and Symptoms. Another factor under knowledge is the signs and

symptoms manifested by an infected individual. The signs and symptoms factor

had an equivalent of 5. Most of the interns thoroughly understand what signs and
symptoms may be present to a person signifying that they had an extremely high

interpretation and agree with the statement being presented. The respondents

are also aware of asymptomatic patients. According to Cornell R. (2020), when a

person is considered asymptomatic, they do not show any signs of a disease

present in their body unless they get tested. However, upon the CDC

investigations, only 35% of estimated count cases are asymptomatic, and the

possibility of spreading the disease to other people is still more likely to happen.

Preventive and Control Measures. The result obtained is equivalent to

5, which means that the results imply that the students already know the

measures needed to be done in times of the pandemic. A meta-analysis of 53

studies conducted by Chinese researchers in 2021 gave significance to the

quarantine measures that generally estimate the mean estimation for incubation

that provide results in understanding the time of infection during the incubation

period and determining the necessary disease control protocols.

Treatment. The overall score for treatment is 4, which indicates that the

participants have a good knowledge regarding the treatment for COVID-19. 43%

strongly agreed that the disease has no treatment and 57% strongly agreed that

vaccines effectively minimize infection risk. The result is similar to the study

conducted by Islam et al. regarding the knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines in

Bangladesh. Respondents with a higher level of education background were

more knowledgeable about COVID-19. It is possible that more educated people

are more concerned about their health and well-being because they have access
to more information sources, and they become more involved in life events that

may affect them, such as COVID-19 vaccines.

Level of Risk Perception of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science

Interns on COVID-19

Table 3

Risk Perception Towards COVID-19 in terms of Perception of the Seriousness

of the Disease and Perception of the Susceptibility to the Disease

Factor Mean Point Score Level

Seriousness of the
3.92 4 Good
Disease

Susceptibility to the
4.68 5 Excellent
Disease

Seriousness of the Disease. The Likert Score is 4, with a mean of 3.92.

Given the score, the respondents perceive that COVID-19 is a moderately

serious disease. COVID-19 is almost the same as Influenza, except it is more

contagious and is caused by a different virus (WHO,2021). With this perceived

notion, COVID-19 is a moderate disease in terms of mortality rate and

asymptomatic cases. The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 can range from

asymptomatic infection to mild upper respiratory tract illness to severe interstitial

pneumonia with respiratory failure and even death (Chen N. et al., 2020). About
30%-60% of cases are either asymptomatic or manifest mild symptoms.

According to Li et al. (2020), patients without severe disease status or

comorbidity could clear the virus in a shorter time frame. Despite its

contagiousness, most patients can clear the virus on its own.

Susceptibility of the Disease. Given a Likert Scale of 5, the respondents

perceived themselves as highly susceptible to the disease. This result was

congruent with the results reported by Kyaw et al. (2020), who reported that

adults in Myanmar reported moderate to high levels of risk perception regarding

COVID-19. Schools, workplaces, and hospitals are deemed the riskiest place

during the pandemic, and the possibility of acquiring the disease is incredibly

high (Mohammed et al., 2021). Perceived risk must be understood as a

community's vulnerability and ability to respond to a novel situation to mitigate

potential consequences. According to Chatterjee et al. (2020), risk awareness is

the best way to prevent and slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Level of Preventive Behavior of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science

Interns on COVID-19

Table 4

Level of Attitude of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science Interns on

COVID-19 Preventive Behavior

Factor Mean Point Score Level

Preventive
4.41 5 Excellent
Behavior
 The level of attitude of the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science Interns

on COVID-19 preventive behavior is equivalent to 5, which implies that the

respondents have excellent preventive behaviors towards COVID-19.

In the study, wearing masks shows the highest prevalence. It has almost a

similar response rate, over 98%, with the studies conducted in Hongkong by

Cowling B. et al. (2020) and South Korea by Kim S. et al. (2020), showing that

the most practiced preventive behavior is wearing a face mask. Most

respondents also practice social distancing, only go out during necessary

business, and reduce public transportation usage. This data could be a result of

the mandate of the government. The Philippines has undergone several types of

community quarantine and has the longest and strictest lockdown (Arceo et al.,

2021). From the study of Cowling et al. (2020) in Hongkong, social distancing

and personal protective measures were essential in suppressing viral

transmission.

The next prevalent behavior is paying more attention to personal hygiene.

According to Meier, K et al. (2020), there is an increased prevalence of washing

their hands more frequently from the respondents in Germany, Italy, and the

Netherlands. Statistics in these countries showed a reduced peak infection rate

of up to 65%, with a delay in 2.7 months and a 29% decrease from the total

infection rate.

The least prevalent in terms of preventive behavior is exercising regularly,

35% of the respondents have a regular physical activity. Due to the lockdown
and restrictions, sedentary time increased considerably (Babarro, AC et al.,

2020). According to Chen, P. et al. (2020), a sedentary lifestyle is evidently

increased to young people and students due to the e-learning setup that forced

them to stay at home and spend more time seated to do screen-based activities.

Relationship Between Preventive Behavior and Knowledge and Risk

Perception of the Medical Laboratory Science Interns towards COVID-19

Singh, J.P. et al. (2020) believed that everyone, including students, has

been affected by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The ability to contain an

outbreak requires accurate knowledge about the disease and preventive

measures, risk perceptions, and government-issued advisories.

Table 5.

Pearson Product Moment Correlation in Testing the Significance of Relationship

Between Preventive Behavior and COVID-19 knowledge and risk perception of

the Medical Laboratory Science interns

Independent Variable
Correlated
COVID-19 COVID-19
Variables
Knowledge Risk Perception

Preventive Cor value 0.637* 0.679*

Behavior p-value 1.047×10-09 2.762×10-11

* Correlation is significant at the < 0.05 level

 Based on the result presented (Table 5), it revealed that there is a

significant relationship between the level of preventive behavioral practice of the

Medical Laboratory Science interns with the level of their knowledge with regards

to the COVID-19 with a p-value 1.047×10-09 that is less than the test value of

0.05. Moreover, there is a moderate positive correlation between the two

mentioned factors with a correlation value of 0.637. This means that knowledge

regarding COVID-19 is considered as a contributing factor to the MLS interns'

Preventive behavior. This implication has seen its similarity in the study

conducted in Saudi Arabia by Al-Hanawi, M. K. et al. (2020), it reveals that

knowledge about the disease is regarded as the first step when implementing

any health education program. Knowledge of a disease's causes and

transmission sources enhances the possibility that people will become more

aware of the spread of communicable diseases and preventative measures to

decrease the rate of transmission. Another study by Elhadi, M., et al. (2020) also

showed that the assessment of medical students' knowledge and preventive

behavior is necessary to ensure that the COVID-19 outbreak and community

transmission prevention methods are satisfied. In addition, reducing COVID-19

community transmission instances is difficult, unless vaccines are completely

made.

There is also a moderate positive correlation between the level of

preventive behavioral practice of the Medical Laboratory Science interns with the

level of their risk perception with regards to the COVID-19, with a correlation
value of 0.679 and a p-value of 2.762×10-11 that is less than the test value of

0.05. This shows that there is a significant relationship between the two

mentioned factors. The result of this study conforms with the result of the study

conducted in Ireland by Borges, J., et al. (2022) among third-level students who

have confirmed that there is a positive link between risk perception and

preventive behaviors. They also discovered that when risk perception grew, so

did self-reported preventative behaviors. It is an essential determinant of a

person's protective behavior; this includes how people perceive and feel about

the dangers they confront (Renner, B. et al., 2015). A different study also stated

that risk perception and preventative behavior were shown to be greater during

the period where national restrictions are imposed than when the restrictions

were withdrawn (Rubaltelli et al., 2020)

To sum up, the correlation value equivalent to 0.637 with a p-value of

1.047×10-09 and 0.679 with a p-value of 2.762×10-11 that are less than the test

value of 0.05 indicated that there is enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis

of not having a significant relationship between preventive behavior and

knowledge and risk perception of the Medical Laboratory Science interns. Thus,

it is safe to say that there is a significant relationship between the level of

preventive behavioral practice of the Medical Laboratory Science interns with the

level of their knowledge and the level of their risk perception with regards to the

COVID-19. Both correlation values, which are moderately positive, indicate a

positive correlation with the variables. Meaning that having a higher knowledge
and risk perception towards COVID-19 will have a greater impact on the

preventive behavior of the MLS Interns.

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