Is It Necessary to Maintain Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic? An Assessment of Students’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice

Aims: Social distancing is one of the most effective methods to control the transmission of Covid-19. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of social distancing in students. Instrument Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 342 students of Iranshahr University of Medical Sciences. Sampling was performed electronically using the availability sampling method. Data collection tools were a questionnaire of demographic information and a questionnaire designed for measuring students’ social distancing knowledge, attitude, and practice. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 16 using descriptive and inferential statistical tests. Findings: The mean age of participants was 21.56±2.11. Out of 342 participants, 222 (64.9%) were female, 84.2% were single, and 84.8% were living in urban areas. The median social distancing knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 6±1, 48±4, and 16±3, respectively. Out of the 342 surveyed students, 85.4% showed a good level of social distancing knowledge, 76% showed a good attitude towards social distancing, 22.8% showed a moderate attitude, and none (0%) showed a poor attitude. However, only 0.6% of the surveyed students earned good social distancing practice scores. Conclusion: Despite the good social distancing knowledge and attitude scores of the surveyed students, they were doing poorly in practicing social distancing.