Predictors of the COVID-19 Social Distancing Practice among Undergraduate Health Students in Samarinda City, Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Social distancing is a health protocol recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for reducing the spread of COVID-19. Undergraduate health students play an important role in the dissemination of accurate information. This study identified predictors that influenced the COVID-19 social distancing practice and examined the sources of social distancing information among undergraduate health students in Samarinda City, Indonesia. This cross-sectional online survey study (March-April 2021) to involved 422 undergraduate students from medicine, public health, and pharmacy faculties at Mulawarman University. Binary logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with the COVID-19 social distancing practice. The results showed that age (AOR 1.47; 95% CI 1.97–2.22, p = 0.045), sex (AOR 2.26; 95% CI 1.38–3.69, p=0.001), and attitude (AOR 2.61, 95% CI: 1.75, 3.90, p<0.001) were significantly associated with social distancing practices. The top three sources of COVID-19 social distancing information used were social media (80.6%), websites (14.0%), and television (3.8%). The study findings encourage the government to disseminate more health information on social media and education programs to this target population.