Compliance with Health Protocols and Type of Social Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic in High School Students in Bandar Abbas, Iran

During the pandemic of COVID-19, the basic strategy to reduce the prevalence of the disease is to observe hygiene and personal protective behaviors; which is recommended for people in the community, especially teenagers, who are less committed to health protocols. The aim of this study was to evaluate the observance of health protocols introduced by the World Health Organization and the type of social behaviors of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 762 (562 girls and 200 boys) high school students in Bandar Abbas, Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Data was collected using a questionnaire by Dominika Guzek et al. and an infographic published by the University of Texas which were made available to students online.

among students, the highest compliance was related to the use of masks (95.7%), and the lowest compliance was related to wearing gloves (31.2%). The maximum duration of handwashing was 11 to 20 seconds (38.1%), and the maximum frequency of washing in a day was 3 to 5 (31. 8%). In terms of performing social behaviors, most students observed the desired level, and as the risk of infection increased, the rate of performing dangerous behaviors decreased.

The present results showed that adhering to health protocols and performing low-risk behaviors with infection COVID-19 is very desirable, but still some behaviors need more training to implement among students. However, normalization of health protocols and behaviors is a big risk in this regard.