Personal Hygiene Assessment Among Different University Students of Dhaka, Bangladesh: A Step Towards the Prevention of COVID-19 Pandemic

Personal hygiene is deemed a necessary precautionary measure against different communicable diseases. Its importance is further reiterated during the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Maintaining personal hygiene, such as washing hands and sneezing etiquette are being considered as effective means of precaution. In the present study, the knowledge and practice level of hand hygiene and sneezing etiquette among different university students in the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh were investigated as these students represent a substantial fraction of the total population in Bangladesh. It was also observed if they have adopted any change in their hygiene practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 240 students from different universities. An online-based questionnaire was provided to them. In this study, 96.7% of students were found to be aware of personal hygiene. 45% of students washed their hands 10 times a day, while 60% of them were unaware and maintained random durations of handwashing. The majority of them were aware of the sneezing rules and 48.3% of them used their elbows during sneezing. 79.2% of the tissue user students usually dispose of the tissue in a designated covered bin. Their hygiene practice had also been changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, our result is insufficient to reflect the overall condition of Bangladeshi university students as it was done with limited resources via an online survey during the countrywide COVID-19 lockdown. Thus, future research is required to draw a conclusive picture