Effect of Community-Based Training in Palliative Care on Knowledge and Attitude of Third Semester Undergraduate Medical Students in a Government Medical College

Nowadays, medical students encounter an ageing population and a higher incidence of chronic respiratory, cardio-vascular, degenerative diseases and malignancies for which a cure is always not possible. Their knowledge and attitude about palliative care influence participation in palliative care.

To assess the change in knowledge and attitude of third semester medical students who attended a palliative care training programme.

A quasi-experimental study was carried out among 120 third semester medical students who attended a training programme (intervention) which included interactive lecture, demonstrations, and communication skills of six hours followed by half-day community exposure to the real cases. A modified version of palliative care knowledge and attitude scale used by Kumar et al. was used for assessing the knowledge and attitude before and after training. Paired t-test and Wilcox on Signed rank test were used for statistical analysis at 95% confidence interval with SPSS 21.

Out of 120 third semester students who attended the training programme, 111 (33 males (30%) and 78 females (70%) with mean age 19.94 years and standard deviation (SD) 1.5) completed both pre-and post-training questionnaires. The mean marks (SD) of pre-and post-training tests were 9.49(1.42) and 11.49(1.07), respectively. The pre-and post-training attitude median scores were 109 and 122 with SD values of 8.9 and 8.4, respectively. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were noted for knowledge (2±1.67) and median attitude scores (13±8.8). Majority of students described community exposure as inspiring and unforgettable experience and intended to do more for the patients in future.

The training program produced significant positive change in knowledge and attitude about palliative care among participants.