Medical Students' Clinical Knowledge of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness: A cross-sectional comparative study

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate and compare the clinical knowledge implications of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) preservice education between pre-clerkship and junior clerkship medical students at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat. Methods: This is an observational comparative cross-sectional study that was conducted between 1^st June and 30^th August 2022, at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized and included questions on sociodemographic data, duration of IMCI preservice training, and knowledge of the participants concerning the IMCI objectives and information on a range of childhood conditions. Results: A total of 97 medical students were included. The majority of the students (45.3%) had two lectures. The role of the IMCI approach in reducing childhood morbidity and mortality was advocated by the majority of the students (80.7% JCR, 73.4% pre-clerkship). The awareness of IMCI component of improving health system was higher in JCR as compared to pre-clerkship participants (P value=0.044). When compared to pre-clerkship students, JCR participants demonstrated a slightly higher awareness of skin pinch (p-value = 0.038), chest indrawing (p-value = 0.008), anemia assessment based on nail bed examination (p-value=0.002), diagnostic assessment of malnutrition based on palm examination (p-value = 0.018), sucking capacity in breast feeding (p-value = 0.025), and vaccines such as tuberculosis (p-value=0.001) and pneumococcal (p-value = 0.018) and rotavirus vaccine (p-value=0.007). Conclusion: The majority of the students displayed good IMCI knowledge, and JCR students showed better knowledge as compared to pre-clerkship candidates.

Keywords: Integrated Management of Childhood Illness; Pediatrics; Childhood; Disease Management; Students; Education, medical, undergraduate; Oman.