Knowledge, awareness, and attitude regarding infection prevention and control among the undergraduate students in public universities in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

Background: Chain of infection is a process of infection when specific conditions must be reached for microorganisms to spread from a reservoir to a susceptible host. To break the chain of infection, one of the processes must be interrupted. According to my current situation, people around the globe are facing a pandemic (coronavirus disease [COVID-19]). Therefore, it is crucial for the young pupils in the universities to have a competent awareness about infection prevention to prevent and protect themselves from any further spreading of diseases, including COVID-19. Objectives: This study aims to understand, recognize the factors that affect people’s behavior and evaluate the knowledge, awareness, and attitude of undergraduate students to help to improve their practices on infection and prevention control. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted using a questionnaire. A total of 400 undergraduate students studying in public universities in Bangkok participated. Infection and prevention control-related knowledge, attitudes toward following infection prevention guidelines, attitude toward environmental support, and preventive behaviors were given. Differences between outcomes and sociodemographic were analyzed through independent t-test and the ANOVA. In addition, preventive behaviors were analyzed by a generalized linear model. No human and animals samples have been used in this study; therefore, ethics approval has not been necessitated. Results: The undergraduate students showed a good level of knowledge in infection prevention, at 6.85 (standard deviation [SD] = 1.83) of nine questions. They also had a good level of attitude toward following infection prevention guidelines, at 42.22 (SD = 1.83) of 50 points. For attitude toward environmental support, the participants showed that they were at a good level, with being at 20.58 (SD = 2.85) of 25 points. However, in terms of preventive behavior, the respondents revealed a moderate level, at 34.07 (SD = 4.03) of 47 points. There is a statistically significant positive correlation between attitude toward preventive behavior and preventive behavior (r = 0.551**, P = 0.01) and attitude toward environment support and preventive behavior (r = 0.496**, P = 0.01). From a generalized linear model, knowledge about infection prevention (Exp (B) = 0.063, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.049–0.510, P < 0.05), attitude toward preventive behavior (Exp (B) = 0.451, 95% CI: 0.189–0.375, P < 0.05), and attitude toward environmental (Exp (B) = 0.346, 95% CI: 0.506–0.839, P < 0.05) support can predict the preventive behavior adoption. Conclusion: The students showed a good level of infection prevention knowledge, attitude toward following infection prevention, and attitude toward environmental support, only in preventive behavior at a moderate level.