TABLE 3.
Personal attributes and risk perception of respondents based on preference to return or not return
| Modifiable variables | Student preferences | P‐value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return | Not return | ||
| Mean rating ± SD (n = 116) | Mean rating ± SD (n = 63) | ||
| Oldenburg Burnout Inventory for Medical Students | |||
| Exhaustion | 14.05 (2.1) | 14.45 (1.9) | .227 |
| Disengagement | 13.58 (2.2) | 13.73 (2.4) | .692 |
| Tolerance for ambiguity a | 26.39 (5.8) | 26.54 (5.2) | .874 |
| Modified Treatment Self‐Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) | |||
| Autonomous motivation | 29.88 (4.1) | 23.1 (5.3) | <.001 |
| Controlled motivation | 15.00 (5.8) | 13.53 (5.9) | .129 |
| Amotivation | 6.52 (2.9) | 7.20 (3.1) | .173 |
| Health Professions Motivation Survey | |||
| Goal orientation | |||
| Mastery | 4.18 (0.4) | 4.02 (0.3) | .005 |
| Performance | 3.69 (0.5) | 3.74 (0.6) | .446 |
| Alienation | 2.65 (0.6) | 2.79 (0.6) | .161 |
| Learning strategy | |||
| Metacognitive | 3.57 (0.5) | 3.40 (0.5) | .052 |
| Non‐metacognitive | 2.63 (0.4) | 2.63 (0.4) | .905 |
| Professionalism | |||
| Reasons to return b | |||
| Returning to the clinical setting during DORSCON code orange is important to me because … | |||
| It is part of my professional responsibility | 3.38 (0.6) | 2.61 (0.7) | <.001 |
| It is a chance to help provide care to patients | 3.32 (0.6) | 2.63 (0.7) | <.001 |
| I want to be responsive to the needs of patients | 3.35 (0.5) | 2.77 (0.7) | <.001 |
| It is a chance for me to improve my clinical capacity | 3.56 (0.5) | 2.71 (0.8) | <.001 |
| I am part of the team, therefore I should be there | 3.14 (0.7) | 2.38 (0.7) | <.001 |
| It is part of my social responsibility to help the most vulnerable when needed | 3.41 (0.5) | 2.72 (0.7) | <.001 |
| It is part of my moral obligation | 3.30 (0.6) | 2.67 (0.7) | <.001 |
| Reasons to not return b | |||
| I should not return to the clinical setting during DORSCON code orange because … | |||
| I don't want to be a drain on clinicians' time | 2.89 (0.7) | 3.42 (0.7) | <.001 |
| I don't want to be a possible vector of infection | 2.89 (0.8) | 3.56 (0.6) | <.001 |
| I want to reduce possible risks to patients as I am not trained | 2.82 (0.8) | 3.56 (0.6) | <.001 |
| Perception of COVID‐19 risk to self | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall Mean rating ± SD (n = 179) |
Mean rating ± SD (n = 116) | Mean rating ± SD (n = 63) | P‐value | |
| Perceived risk of infection | ||||
| If you were to return to the clinical setting right now, how likely do you believe it would be for you to become infected by COVID‐19? b | 2.84 (0.7) | 2.69 (0.7) | 3.13 (0.7) | <.001 |
| Belief in severity of illness | ||||
| If you were to become infected by COVID‐19, how likely do you believe that it would result in a critical risk to your life? b | 2.64 (0.7) | 2.54 (0.7) | 2.82 (0.8) | .006 |
| Computed ‘personal risk’ score = perceived risk of infection × belief in severity of illness | 7.7 (3.5) | 7.0 (3.1) | 9.1 (3.8) | <.001 |
a
Higher scores are correlated with higher tolerance for ambiguity.
b
Measured on a scale of 1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree; means are shown for ease of interpretation, however P‐values were obtained from non‐parametric tests.
Abbreviations: DORSCON, Disease Outbreak Response System Condition; SD, standard deviation.