Knowledge and Hand Hygiene Behavior During Covid-19 Pandemic in Adolescents of Rawalpindi, Pakistan: A Call for Policymaking in Health Literacy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, National University of Medical Sciences

2 Head of Department, Department of Public Health, National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS)

3 MPH Trainee, AFPGMI, National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS)

4 Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS)

5 Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Quetta Institute of Medical Sciences (NUMS)

6 Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The concept of health literacy shaping attitudes and behaviours is critical in preventing and controlling person-to-person transmission in the spread of infectious diseases. Health literacy is a determinant of health; it impacts the effective use of health behaviour by empowering individuals and communities to prevent epidemics like Coronavirus and Monkeypox. The study aims to assess the association between health-protective behavior and health literacy for preventing the spread of the Coronavirus during the pandemic in adolescents of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.  

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in public and private schools of Rawalpindi, 387 middle and high school students. Multiple linear regression was used to find the association between the main explanatory variable, health literacy and the outcome variables, health knowledge and health behaviour. The study was conducted in ten different sessions, each requiring one hour from 1st August to 31st October 2021, the self-administered questionnaire was used as a data collection tool, and a total of 387 participants took part in the study. Data were entered and analysed using SPSS Version 27.

Results: Multiple linear regression analyses showed a significant association between health literacy and health knowledge ( β ̂ = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.005–0.069, p=0.023), and between health literacy and health behaviour (β ̂= 0.07, 95% CI = 0.048–0.099, p<0.001). 

Conclusion: Health literacy is significantly associated with increased hand hygiene knowledge and behaviour. Government should prioritise health literacy policy and practice and make it more sustainable, effective, and integral using the multi-level targeted approach for the national educational sector.

Keywords

Availability of data and materials: Datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request

Conflicts of Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Ethical Consideration: This study received ethical approval from the institutional ethics committee, the National University of Health Sciences, Pakistan (NUMS-IRB & EC Certificate Ref No. 06 / R&D / 2021 / ORIC-06) and conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki.

Funding: None

Author contributions: Study design: Hina Shan and Saadia Maqbool, Data collection: Maryam Shan and Ms Rubab Zulfiqar, Data analysis: Hina Shan and Uzma Hassan,-Manuscript writing: Hina Shan, Tamkeen Nishat Jaffry and Rubab Zulfiqar.

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