Lebanese University Students and COVID-19: A Survey on their Related-Knowledge, Practice, and Behaviors

INTRODUCTION: Young adults are at the epicenter for preventing the progression of COVID-19 pandemic and must be targeted for education to impede any potential transmission of the disease. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, practice and behaviors of Lebanese university students regarding COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among university students at the Lebanese University between March 30, 2020, and April 4, 2020. Information on socio-demographic data, knowledge, practice, and additional information concerning COVID-19 were collected. RESULTS: Our survey showed that the majority of the students had good knowledge 90.8%, and more than two third of the respondents 78.6% reported good practice regarding COVID-19. Graduate students were more knowledgeable compared to undergraduate students (unstandardized beta 0.349 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.165 to 0.533; p-value < 0.0001). Moreover, male students had a negative impact on good practice compared to females (unstandardized beta -0.280 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of -0.402 to -0.159; p-value < 0.0001). Nearly half of the students (55.2%) reported that their food intake has increased, and 82.5% of the students didn’t practice sport during the quarantine. The most common information source of the students was the television (63.3%) followed by social media (53.9%). CONCLUSIONS: This study offers useful insights into the knowledge and practices of Lebanese university students towards COVID-19. Our findings support the importance to deliver health education campaign by the ministry of public health through television and social media to improve the knowledge on disease transmission and preventive measures.