Assessing the knowledge, perceptions, and mental health impact of COVID-19 among students in Rwanda

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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title>
<jats:p>This paper aims to assess the knowledge, perceptions and mental health impact of COVID-19 among students in Rwanda.</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title>
<jats:p>This paper is a cross-sectional online survey questionnaire.</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title>
<jats:p>The mean knowledge score among the 375 respondents was 75.14% (SD ± 19.1), with 195 (55.1%) of the respondents scoring below 80%. Students who believed that COVID-19 education was sufficient were more likely to have lower knowledge levels (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.15; 2.94). While most respondents were aware of their vulnerability to the virus, they did not see themselves at risk of becoming infected. The percentage of respondents reported to have some form of mental health issues was 49.7%. The three most important factors in influencing mental health were age, history of mental health issues, and the way news was reported. Education quality was less affected for those who received online schooling (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.33, 0.94).</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title>
<jats:p>Education about COVID-19 should be strengthened by capitalizing on existing online and offline learning platforms to frequently update new or changing information.</jats:p>
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<jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title>
<jats:p>This paper was the first study assessing the knowledge, perception and mental health impact of COVID-19 among Rwanda students.</jats:p>
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