Cargando…

A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021

Background: Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on individuals, education, and the economy. During its peak, the pandemic forced school closures. Although there is currently no cure for corona virus, non-pharmaceutical measures can help prevent its spread. Among these preventiv...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula, Oladimeji, Kelechi Elizabeth, Anyiam, Felix Emeka, Oladimeji, Olanrewaju
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9956354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36826349
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/idr15010009
_version_ 1784894571891654656
author Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
Oladimeji, Kelechi Elizabeth
Anyiam, Felix Emeka
Oladimeji, Olanrewaju
author_facet Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
Oladimeji, Kelechi Elizabeth
Anyiam, Felix Emeka
Oladimeji, Olanrewaju
author_sort Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
collection PubMed
description Background: Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on individuals, education, and the economy. During its peak, the pandemic forced school closures. Although there is currently no cure for corona virus, non-pharmaceutical measures can help prevent its spread. Among these preventive measures are regular handwashing with soap and water or the use of hand sanitizers, avoiding touching the mouth, nose, and eyes, social distancing, and the use of face masks. As a result, this study investigated COVID-19 prevention practices among Durban University of Technology staff and students in South Africa. Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, data were gathered online via self-administered, structured questionnaires from 5849 university students and staff members between May 2020 and March 2021. Utilizing descriptive statistics, the characteristics of the study sample were reported. Using logistic regression models, the relationship between demographic characteristics and the overall level of COVID-19 preventive practices was evaluated. Results: The multivariate logistic regression model showed statistically significantly associations for COVID-19 preventive practices by: male (AOR: 9.815, 95% CI: 1.721–55.959, p = 0.01) compared to female participants, single participants (AOR: 6.012, 95% CI: 2.070–17.461, p = 0.001) compared to other marital categories, and those in the faculty of Health Sciences (AOR: 1.721, 95% CI: 1.023–2.894, p = 0.041) compared to other faculties. Conclusions: Overall, the study’s preventive practices were commendable; they were also influenced by socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, and university faculty. Increasing age was associated with reduced compliance with COVID-19 preventive practices. In addition, men demonstrated greater caution than women.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9956354
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-99563542023-02-25 A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021 Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula Oladimeji, Kelechi Elizabeth Anyiam, Felix Emeka Oladimeji, Olanrewaju Infect Dis Rep Article Background: Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on individuals, education, and the economy. During its peak, the pandemic forced school closures. Although there is currently no cure for corona virus, non-pharmaceutical measures can help prevent its spread. Among these preventive measures are regular handwashing with soap and water or the use of hand sanitizers, avoiding touching the mouth, nose, and eyes, social distancing, and the use of face masks. As a result, this study investigated COVID-19 prevention practices among Durban University of Technology staff and students in South Africa. Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, data were gathered online via self-administered, structured questionnaires from 5849 university students and staff members between May 2020 and March 2021. Utilizing descriptive statistics, the characteristics of the study sample were reported. Using logistic regression models, the relationship between demographic characteristics and the overall level of COVID-19 preventive practices was evaluated. Results: The multivariate logistic regression model showed statistically significantly associations for COVID-19 preventive practices by: male (AOR: 9.815, 95% CI: 1.721–55.959, p = 0.01) compared to female participants, single participants (AOR: 6.012, 95% CI: 2.070–17.461, p = 0.001) compared to other marital categories, and those in the faculty of Health Sciences (AOR: 1.721, 95% CI: 1.023–2.894, p = 0.041) compared to other faculties. Conclusions: Overall, the study’s preventive practices were commendable; they were also influenced by socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, and university faculty. Increasing age was associated with reduced compliance with COVID-19 preventive practices. In addition, men demonstrated greater caution than women. MDPI 2023-01-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9956354/ /pubmed/36826349 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/idr15010009 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Sibiya, Maureen Nokuthula
Oladimeji, Kelechi Elizabeth
Anyiam, Felix Emeka
Oladimeji, Olanrewaju
A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021
title A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021
title_full A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021
title_fullStr A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021
title_full_unstemmed A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021
title_short A Cross-Sectional Study of Coronavirus Disease Prevention Practices among University Staff and Students in Durban, South Africa in 2020–2021
title_sort cross-sectional study of coronavirus disease prevention practices among university staff and students in durban, south africa in 2020–2021
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9956354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36826349
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/idr15010009
work_keys_str_mv AT sibiyamaureennokuthula acrosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT oladimejikelechielizabeth acrosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT anyiamfelixemeka acrosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT oladimejiolanrewaju acrosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT sibiyamaureennokuthula crosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT oladimejikelechielizabeth crosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT anyiamfelixemeka crosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021
AT oladimejiolanrewaju crosssectionalstudyofcoronavirusdiseasepreventionpracticesamonguniversitystaffandstudentsindurbansouthafricain20202021