Mohd Fazeli Sazali1, Syed Sharizman Syed Abdul Rahim2, Mohd Haazik Mohamed3, Azizan Omar4, Nicholas Tze Ping Pang5, Mohammad Saffree Jeffree6, Yeap Boon Tat7, Nelbon Giloi8, Farhana Harzila Mohd Bahar9, Wiwik Afridah10, Abdul Hakim Zakkiy Fasya11, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan12, Mohd Faizal Madrim13, Khalid Mokti14, Abdul Rahman Ramdzan15, Zulkhairul Naim Sidek Ahmad16, Azman Atil17, Muhammad Aklil Abd Rahim18, Mohd Yusof Ibrahim19. 1. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. drmohdfazeli@gmail.com. 2. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. syedsharizman@gmail.com. 3. Faculty of Psychology and Education, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. haazik@ums.edu.my. 4. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. azizan.omar@ums.edu.my. 5. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. nicholas86@gmail.com. 6. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. saffree@ums.edu.my. 7. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. boontat@ums.edu.my. 8. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. nelbon.giloi@ums.edu.my. 9. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. farhanaharzila@ums.edu.my. 10. Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama, Surabaya. wiwik@unusa.ac.id. 11. Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama, Surabaya. abdul.hakim@unusa.ac.id. 12. Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. rohaizat@ppukm.ukm.edu.my. 13. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. faizalmadrim@gmail.com. 14. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. khalid.mokti@ums.edu.my. 15. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. abdul.rahman@ums.edu.my. 16. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. zulkhairul@ums.edu.my. 17. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. azman.azmi.atil@ums.edu.my. 18. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. aklil@ums.edu.my. 19. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. sofy1008@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 related knowledge, attitude and practice plays a major role in determining the readiness of the community to adopt the behavioural change towards recommended preventive measures outlined by public health officials. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding COVID-19 among university students as well as its associated factors. METHOD: This is a cross sectional study that was conducted among students in a public university during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. An online validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis test was used to determine the association between independent variables with knowledge, attitude, and practice score. RESULTS: Overall response rate of this study was 92.9 (n=524). Median score of knowledge domain was 78.0 (IQR= ±12.0), median attitude score of 49.0 (IQR= ±5.0), and median practice score of 80.0 (IQR= ±11.0). The mean knowledge, attitude and practice score were significantly higher among diploma holder (vs degree holder, p<0.05), residing in main Kota Kinabalu campus (vs non-KK campus, p<0.001), studying in medical faculty (vs non-medical faculty, p<0.001), and attended COVID-19 education (vs non-attendance; p<0.05). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 related knowledge and attitude were below satisfactory level during earlier phase of the pandemic. However, majority of respondents have positive behaviour towards COVID-19 prevention. This highlights the importance of accurate and tailored health education to improve the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of recommended measures to prevent COVID-19 spread.
BACKGROUND:COVID-19 related knowledge, attitude and practice plays a major role in determining the readiness of the community to adopt the behavioural change towards recommended preventive measures outlined by public health officials. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding COVID-19 among university students as well as its associated factors. METHOD: This is a cross sectional study that was conducted among students in a public university during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. An online validated self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis test was used to determine the association between independent variables with knowledge, attitude, and practice score. RESULTS: Overall response rate of this study was 92.9 (n=524). Median score of knowledge domain was 78.0 (IQR= ±12.0), median attitude score of 49.0 (IQR= ±5.0), and median practice score of 80.0 (IQR= ±11.0). The mean knowledge, attitude and practice score were significantly higher among diploma holder (vs degree holder, p<0.05), residing in main Kota Kinabalu campus (vs non-KK campus, p<0.001), studying in medical faculty (vs non-medical faculty, p<0.001), and attended COVID-19 education (vs non-attendance; p<0.05). CONCLUSION:COVID-19 related knowledge and attitude were below satisfactory level during earlier phase of the pandemic. However, majority of respondents have positive behaviour towards COVID-19 prevention. This highlights the importance of accurate and tailored health education to improve the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of recommended measures to prevent COVID-19 spread.
Authors: D Daniel; Arif Kurniawan; Ajeng Rahastri Indah Pinawati; Morrin Choirunnisa Thohira; Md Annaduzzaman Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-08-26 Impact factor: 4.614