Assessment of practice of handwashing as Covid-19 preventive measure among medical students of Abia State University Teaching Hospital, (ABSUTH) Aba, Abia State, Nigeria

Background: Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is a communicable disease which is causing morbidity and mortality globally. Hand washing, wearing of a facemask and social distancing are preventive measures that have been options available in our country, Nigeria. The practice of hand washing includes cleansing of hands by rubbing both hands together using and alcohol-based hand sanitizer or washing both hands with soap and water to prevent microbial growth.

Objective: This study aimed at assessing the practice of hand washing as a covid-19 preventive measure amongst medical students of ABSUTH, Aba.

Method: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among medical students in ABSUTH, Aba, Abia State, A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was adopted and used to obtain information from the 430 students. Numerical variables were summarized using mean and standard deviation, categorical variables were summarized using frequency and proportions. Association was tested at p-value of 0.05%.

Result: There was a non-response rate of 50 (13.8%) as 380 students participated. Mean age of the participants was 24 ± 5.94. Two hundred and eighty-one (73.9%) constituted the majority and was found among the 21 – 25 age range. Female was in majority as 230 (60.5%) of them participated. The level of practice of handwashing was 195 (51.3%). Majority of the students scored above 52% in all the different aspects of handwashing practices and there was statistically significant association between all the hand washing practices and medical students’ participation at a p-value of 0.05%.

Conclusion: Medical students showed a good level of practice towards infection and control measures. Social media was major source of information. Some misconceptions were noted regarding minimum duration of handwashing with soap and water and level of practices.