Military Medical Students' Awareness and Practice Concerning Occupational Health and Safety.

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate the awareness and practices of military medical students concerning occupational health and safety. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire composed of 20 open- and closed-ended questions was administered to medical students of the Gulhane Military Medical Faculty (n = 754). The response rate of the questionnaire was 82.4% (n = 622/754). The mean age of the participants was 21.5 ± 1.84 years, and the majority of participants were male (94.1%). A substantial number of participants (41.1%) described their level of awareness and practice as "low/very low," although 95.0% and 76.7% of them had never acquired any occupational disease or had any work accidents, respectively. In total, 28.1% of all students had at least one vaccination, and 5th- and 6th-year students were 92 times and 63 times more likely to have been vaccinated than 1st-year students, respectively (odds ratio = 92.66, 95% confidence interval = 26.70-321.59; odds ratio = 63.01, 95% confidence interval = 17.96-221.01). The knowledge and practice level of medical students concerning occupational health and safety appeared to be increasing by the grades of medical faculty, however students expressed themselves as insufficient about their knowledge and practice level.