Analyzing the Adoption of Clean and Healthy Living Behaviors against COVID-19 Students in Indonesia

Abstract

The ease of obtaining information influences students adopting the behavior. Purpose: To analyze the indicators of clean and healthy living behavior (PHBS) on students and find the effect of information in dealing with COVID-19. Methods: This is a quantitative study using a cross-sectional design and was conducted from March – to June 2020. The sample of students at one of the State Universities in Medan City was 352 respondents. Furthermore, the data were collected through a questionnaire, and path analysis determined the relationship between variables x and y. The influence of the respondents’ characteristic variables (X1) on the consumption of nutritious food (Y1), exercise habits (Y2), handwashing habits (Y3), environmental hygiene (Y4), smoking habits (Y5), wearing masks (Y6), water consumption (Y7), consumption of cooked food (Y8), use of health facilities (Y9), the habit of praying (Y10) was analyzed. Meanwhile, the effect of access to information (X2) on the consumption of nutritious food (Y1), exercise habits (Y2), handwashing habits (Y3), environmental hygiene (Y4), smoking habits (Y5), wearing masks (Y6), water consumption (Y7), consumption of cooked food (Y8), use of health facilities (Y9), and praying habit (Y10) was studied. Results: This study found that information affected the consumption of nutritious food, exercise habits, handwashing habits, and health facilities with a T-statistic value of 2.603, 1.970, 2.941, and 4.631, respectively, while individual characteristics influenced the use of masks with a value of 2,167. Conclusion: Information affects PHBS, and information media is an effective way and impetus for students to adopt the behavior. Furthermore, behavior change will be impacted when information is presented well.