Analysis of Gender-Dependent Personal Protective Behaviors in a National Sample: Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study
Analysis of Gender-Dependent Personal Protective Behaviors in a National Sample: Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study
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DOI：
10.3390/ijerph17165770
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发表时间：
2020-08-01
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Glabska, Dominika
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Guzek, Dominika;Skolmowska, Dominika;Glabska, Dominika
在冠状病毒-19疾病（COVID-19）大流行期间，建议减少疾病传播的基本策略是保持适当的手部卫生和个人防护行为，但在青少年中，依从性较低的情况很常见。本研究旨在评估波兰青少年全国样本中性别相关的手部卫生和个人防护行为。波兰青少年的 COVID-19 经历 (PLACE-19) 研究是在 2323 名中学生（814 名男性，1509 名女性）中进行的。学校是根据随机配额抽样程序选择的。对参与者进行了调查，以评估他们与手部卫生和个人防护相关的知识和信念，以及他们在 COVID-19 大流行期间的实际行为。当被问及他们的知识时，大多数受访者都给出了正确的答案。然而，女性表现出更高的知识水平（p<0.05）。大多数受访者表示，不出门、勤洗手、使用含酒精的洗手液、避免与可能生病的人接触、避免去公共场所作为个人防护行为。在波兰颁布要求人们在公共场所遮住鼻子和嘴巴的法律后，他们宣布使用口罩和手套。关于使用口罩和不触摸脸部，没有观察到性别差异，而对于所有其他行为，女性表示比男性更坚持（p<0.05）。女性还表示每天洗手的频率更高（p<0.0001），并且比男性更频繁地在必要时洗手（68.2% vs. 54.1%；p<0.0001）。男性更常指出不洗手的各种原因，包括不需要洗手、不想洗手、没有时间洗手或忘记洗手（p<0.0001），而女性则指出原因是副作用（例如皮肤问题）（p=0.0278）。女性更常宣称在与社交、与他人接触和健康相关的情况下洗手（p < 0.05），并宣称始终在洗手程序中包括建议的步骤（p < 0.05）。结果显示，与男生相比，女中学生的手卫生和个人防护知识水平较高，行为也较好。然而，无论性别如何，都观察到了一些错误信念和不当行为，这表明教育是必要的，特别是在 COVID-19 大流行期间。
During the coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the basic strategy that is recommended to reduce the spread of the disease is to practice proper hand hygiene and personal protective behaviors, but among adolescents, low adherence is common. The present study aimed to assess the gender-dependent hand hygiene and personal protective behaviors in a national sample of Polish adolescents. The Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study was conducted in a group of 2323 secondary school students (814 males, 1509 females). Schools were chosen based on the random quota sampling procedure. The participants were surveyed to assess their knowledge and beliefs associated with hand hygiene and personal protection, as well as their actual behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of respondents gave proper answers when asked about their knowledge. However, females displayed a higher level of knowledge (p< 0.05). Most of the respondents declared not leaving home, handwashing, using alcohol-based hand rub, avoiding contact with those who may be sick, and avoiding public places as their personal protective behaviors. They declared using face masks and gloves after the legal regulation requiring people to cover their nose and mouth in public places was enacted in Poland. Regarding the use of face masks and not touching the face, no gender-dependent differences were observed, while for all the other behaviors, females declared more adherence than males (p< 0.05). Females also declared a higher daily frequency of handwashing (p< 0.0001) and washing their hands always when necessary more often than males (68.2% vs. 54.1%;p< 0.0001). Males more often indicated various reasons for not handwashing, including that there is no need to do it, they do not feel like doing it, they have no time to do it, or they forget about it (p< 0.0001), while females pointed out side effects (e.g., skin problems) as the reason (p= 0.0278). Females more often declared handwashing in circumstances associated with socializing, being exposed to contact with other people and health (p< 0.05), and declared always including the recommended steps in their handwashing procedure (p< 0.05). The results showed that female secondary school students exhibited a higher level of knowledge on hand hygiene and personal protection, as well as better behaviors, compared to males. However, irrespective of gender, some false beliefs and improper behaviors were observed, which suggests that education is necessary, especially in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.