Assessing the Knowledge and Attitude of Students of Iran’s MedicalSciences Universities Regarding Health Tourism

Background: Health tourism is already one of the most important sources of revenue for manycountries all over the world, but it appears that it has not been as progressive in Iran. Thepurpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitudes of students at Iranianmedical sciences universities about this industry.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the students of medical sciences universities in Iranselected through snowball sampling and they filled out the ۳۶-item online self-administratedquestionnaire. The gathered data were analyzed using SPSS software (version ۲۵) and a pvalueof less than ۰.۰۵ was considered statistically significant.Result: Overall, ۳۹۰ students with mean age of ۲۳ ± ۱.۵ years participated in this study. Thestudents answered ۳۸% of questions regarding knowledge, correctly. Youth (< ۲۵ years), Farsethnicity, higher educated people, those living in central provinces, and students with jobexperience especially health tourism- related job had a higher level of knowledge. Totally, over۶۶% of students believed that health tourism industry should be recognized and developed inIran, while only ۳۰% thought that Iran’s health tourism industry is able enough to competewith international markets. Also, almost ۷۵% of students believed that medical professionalsin Iran are skillful and trustworthy and about ۵۰% did not have any opinion about whetherhealth tourism can improve the medical knowledge level of medical professionals or not.Conclusion: According to the obtained results, students’ knowledge regarding the industrywas not optimum, and consequently, many of them did not have an optimistic attitude towardhealth tourism. Hence, health policy-makers should pay much focus on educating students ofmedical sciences universities in this regard, which could have a significant impact on the futureof this profitable industry in Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Knowledge ، Attitude ، Health Tourism ، Medical Tourism ، Iran