Faculty of Communication, Arts and Sciences, Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
School of Health Sciences, Modern University for Business and Science, Beirut, Lebanon.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Aug 18;23(1):1582. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16515-9.
The fast spread of COVID-19 reinforced the daily use of disinfectants around the world. However, the awareness gap of disinfectant use could lead to health risks during the prevention of the pandemic. This study aims to assess the level of awareness and performance towards COVID-related disinfectant use among various university communities (student, staff, and faculty) in Lebanon.
A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2021 and June 2022 among 925 participants (males and females aged between 18 and 64 years old) from academic settings in Lebanese universities using convenience sampling. An online validated survey (score-based questionnaire) of personal disinfectants' utilization was conducted to evaluate the awareness and performance levels using SPSS (version 21). Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to check significant differences in awareness and performance levels among gender, age, provinces, educational level, university status, and field of study. Friedman test was used to test for significant differences in performance level questions pre-and post-COVID-19. The Spearman correlation test was used to determine the correlation between the awareness and performance of the respondents regarding the use of disinfectants.
It was found that the majority of the respondents showed a weak level of awareness (70.8%) while their performance (61.9%) was moderate. Spearman's correlation analysis concluded a weak correlation between the awareness and performance levels (p < 0.01). The Mann-Whitney test indicated that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in awareness and performance levels between males and females. Another notable variable was the educational level of the respondents (p < 0.05) with postgraduate degrees holders recording higher mean scores of awareness than the ones with undergraduate and high school degrees as per Kruskal-Wallis test. Significant differences were shown in awareness scores among the age groups and in performance scores among the field of study (p < 0.05).
The study findings highlighted the necessity of awareness campaigns and training programs addressing the technical handling of disinfectants among the communities in Lebanon. Lebanese governmental authorities (Ministry of Public Health, MoPH, and Ministry of Education and Higher Education, MEHE), and the healthcare professionals and public health researchers in Lebanon may utilize this new evidence to initiate public health interventions as a part of the United Nations (UN) sustainability goal of wellbeing (Sustainable Development Goal 3, SDG 3).
COVID-19 的快速传播促使全球范围内日常使用消毒剂的频率增加。然而，人们对消毒剂使用的认知差距可能会在大流行期间带来健康风险。本研究旨在评估黎巴嫩各大学社区（学生、教职员工）对与 COVID 相关的消毒剂使用的认知和执行水平。
2021 年 12 月至 2022 年 6 月期间，采用便利抽样法，从黎巴嫩大学的学术环境中抽取 925 名参与者（年龄在 18 至 64 岁之间的男性和女性）进行了一项横断面研究。使用 SPSS（版本 21）对个人消毒剂使用情况进行了在线验证调查（基于分数的问卷），以评估认知和执行水平。采用 Mann-Whitney 和 Kruskal-Wallis 检验检查了性别、年龄、省份、教育水平、大学地位和学习领域等因素对认知和执行水平的显著差异。采用 Friedman 检验测试了 COVID-19 前后执行水平问题的显著差异。采用 Spearman 相关检验确定了受访者对消毒剂使用的认知和执行之间的相关性。
研究发现，大多数受访者表现出较弱的认知水平（70.8%），而他们的执行水平（61.9%）则处于中等水平。Spearman 相关分析得出，认知和执行水平之间存在弱相关（p<0.01）。Mann-Whitney 检验表明，男性和女性之间的认知和执行水平存在显著差异（p<0.05）。另一个显著的变量是受访者的教育水平（p<0.05），根据 Kruskal-Wallis 检验，研究生的认知水平平均得分高于本科生和高中生。年龄组之间的认知得分和学习领域之间的执行得分都显示出显著差异（p<0.05）。
研究结果强调了在黎巴嫩社区开展针对消毒剂技术处理的认知和培训计划的必要性。黎巴嫩政府当局（公共卫生部、MoPH 和教育部和高等教育部、MEHE）以及黎巴嫩的医疗保健专业人员和公共卫生研究人员可以利用这一新证据，启动公共卫生干预措施，作为联合国（UN）福祉可持续发展目标（可持续发展目标 3，SDG 3）的一部分。
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