ISSN 2348-313X (Print) International Journal of Life Sciences Research ISSN 2348-3148 (online) Vol. 9, Issue 4, pp: (42-48), Month: October - December 2021, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviours towards COVID 19 of high school students in Perth Wongwarit Thipthanakan Year 12 student at Kent Street Senior High School
Abstract: The outbreak of COVID-19 had affected Australia. One of the ways to control the spread of COVID-19 is to have a good understanding of the disease and correct preventive behaviours. Purpose: Accessing the knowledge, attitudes, and preventive behaviour towards COVID-19 of high school students in Perth Methodology: The study was conducted using a questionnaire. A total of 171 students participated. COVID19related knowledge, attitudes toward COVID-19, and preventive behaviours were assessed. Differences between outcomes and sociodemographic were analysed through independent t-test and the ANOVA. Preventive behaviours were analysed by a generalized linear model. Findings: Students revealed moderate knowledge about COVID-19, correctly answering 10.48 (SD = 2.36) questions in a total of 15, moderate attitudes toward preventive behaviours 39.39 (SD = 6.17) and good preventive behaviour 42.57 (SD = 7.43), questions in a total of 35. There are statistically significant positive correlations shown: between attitudes toward preventive behaviours and preventive behaviours (r=.646**, p<0.01) and between knowledge about COVID-19 and preventive behaviours (r=.239 **, p<0.01). Attitude toward preventive behaviours (B=.764, p<0.05), Knowledge about COVID-19 (B=.374, p<0.05) and Gender (B=2.037, p<0.05) had significant effects on preventive behaviours. Conclusion: Students had a good level of preventive behaviour, while their knowledge about COVID-19 and attitude toward preventive behaviour were moderate. Attitude toward preventive behaviour had a positive correlation with preventive behaviour. Attitude toward preventive behaviour, knowledge and gender had significant effects on preventive behaviour. From the results, increasing attitude toward preventive behaviour is recommended to raise the level of preventive behaviour. Keywords: COVID-19, preventive behaviour, high school students.
1. INTRODUCTION People around the world had suffered from COVID-19. On 11 March 2020, The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. It was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 before it spread around the world [2]. There were more than 200 million infection cases and over 4 million lives were taken away [3]. It can spread to humans and animals by droplets from infected patients. It causes respiratory infections. Vaccines were needed to be used along with providing knowledge and understanding of the disease to raise individual immunity, create herd immunity and promote protective behaviour. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2”. The disease it causes has been named “Coronavirus disease 2019” or COVID 19 [4]. Transmission of COVID-19 is primarily via droplets including droplets and aerosols that leave the reservoir from the portal of exit, and airborne transmission. Respiratory secretion from an infected person stays on the surface from 2 hours to several days depending on several factors, such as temperature, type of surface, relative humidity, etc. Close
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