The knowledge and personal hygiene behavior of Islamic boarding school students on COVID-19 prevention and transmission, and association with transmission of COVID-19

OBJECTIVES To assess the knowledge and personal hygiene behavior among students in Islamic boarding schools regarding the prevention and transmission of COVID-19, and correlate with the findings of the COVID-19 screening program. METHOD A cross-sectional study was carried out during January to March 2021 using a validated questionnaire. The knowledge and personal hygiene behavior were interpreted as good, moderate, and poor. The screening of COVID-19 was performed using the antibody rapid test. The association between the screening of COVID-19 and the degree of knowledge and personal hygiene behavior was assessed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS Of a total of 294 participants in the study, ranging in age between 12 and 17 years, 202 (68.7%) were males. Of these, 18 tested positive for COVID-19 by rapid test. Overall, 61.2% participants had moderate knowledge regarding COVID-19 prevention, but we failed to show correlation between knowledge and the transmission of COVID-19 among the pupils. Good personal hygiene behavior was recorded in 41.8% participants, but its correlation with the transmission of COVID-19 was not clarified. CONCLUSIONS The majority of our boarding school student sample had good-moderate knowledge of COVID-19 prevention and adequate personal hygiene behavior. The transmission of COVID-19, however, in our participants was not correlated with their knowledge and personal hygiene behavior.