KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE REGARDING COVID-19 AMONG HIGHER EDUCATIONAL FOREIGN STUDENTS STUDYING AT ZHENGZHOU UNIVERSITY, HENAN, CHINA

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice about COVID-19 among higher educational foreign students studying at Zhengzhou University. Methods: This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey where 329 study respondents were targeted using the non-probability convenience sampling method for data collection. SPSS v 22.0 was applied for data analysis and P≤0.05 was considered statically significant. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were performed to discover the relationship among variables. Result: Mostly 74.8% of students think, they can prevent COVID-19 by spreading (1) If a non-infected or asymptomatic person washes their hands with soap/hand wash (2). Uses sanitizer and wears a face mask regularly. The majority of international students, 55.0% thought that Covid-19 can be transmitted from person to person, 54.4% believed covid-19 can be transmitted through cough droplets and 52.6% believed that isolation/quarantine of the infected people and symptomatic treatment in a proper place are effective ways to reduce the spread of the virus.  A positive attitude 87.2 percent was observed with washing hands, face, and wearing a face mask in a crowded area, the majority 86.9% had continued their studies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and practice standards 81.8 percent was observed, where they frequently used a face mask and washed their hands at home for better hand hygiene. Conclusion: Excellent information and understanding, optimistic attitude, and good practice were observed overall. It is encouraging that they continued their learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and are completely satisfied with the e-learning process and satisfied with available learning opportunities.

Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, practice, COVID-19, higher education student, Zhengzhou University, China.