Venous thromboembolism: Knowledge and awareness among students of faculties of medicine in Southeast Nigeria—A need for curriculum review

Abstract

Background: The burden of venous thromboembolism (VTE) can be reduced through awareness programs, as VTE is largely preventable. Objective: We sought to determine the level of knowledge among medical students in Southeast Nigeria. Materials and Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in clinical students at four medical schools in the southeast of Nigeria. The pretested and prevalidated version 11 of the Ipsos-Reid questionnaire was used. Results: A total of 784 students with a mean age of 23.5 ± 3.0 years participated in the study. Our respondents showed a high level of awareness of VTE (99.1%). The majority 638 (87.6%) of the respondents correctly described vein thrombosis as a blood clot in a vein. A little more than half of them knew how clots feel in the legs (51.0%) and lungs (57.5%). Their level of awareness of possible risk factors for VTE was above 57%. The relationship between medical school and the level of perception was statistically significant ([P ≤ 0.0001. Conclusion: Awareness is high, but general knowledge was low among our medical students. This may be a call to curriculum adjustment in our medical schools.