Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Medical Technologists in the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia on COVID-19

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease 2019 caused a global rise in cases and deaths, and as these numbers rose, the need for trained and equipped Medical Technologists became urgent. Lack of knowledge towards the previous strain of the virus has led to various inefficiencies. This study explored the effects of the Medical Technologists’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices on their behaviors towards COVID-19. A cross-sectional design was used in the study wherein a total number of 200 Medical Technologists from the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia partook in the study. A survey questionnaire was disseminated through Google Forms. Descriptive statistics together with the Chi-Square test and Fisher’s Exact test was used to measure the difference between the observed outcomes from the expected outcomes and to determine what parameters are significant and have effect on the observed outcomes. Results show that knowledge alone is not sufficient enough to cause a change in behavior because a direct relationship among the knowledge, attitudes, and practices must first be established, attitudes do not affect their behaviors as there is a lack of consistency within the different factors that affect the attitudes, and practices do not display any effect towards behavior as several factors under practices hinder behavioral change. In conclusion, knowledge, attitudes, and practices are not sufficient indicators that could cause any effect towards the Medical Technologists’ behaviors. External and internal factors such as their age, gender, and working environment have varying effects on their behaviors. To improve the attitudes of the Medical Technologists and advocate for more preferable practices, it is recommended that an emphasis must be made to figure out the different factors that affect behavior and improve upon these factors.