ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FACTORS, AND INFECTION PREVENTION BEHAVIOR AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background
This study investigated the association between infection prevention behavior and socio-demographic and other lifestyle factors among the Lithuanian public and private university students.

Material and methods
The cross-sectional survey took place from 15 January to 28 February 2021, and a total of 234 students responded to the survey. Survey questions included socio-demographic factors, compliance to hand hygiene, attitude towards vaccination, safe sexual behavior and risky sexual behavior, self-rated health, eating habits, physical activity, and compliance with COVID-19 preventative measures. Independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation bivariate, and multiple regression tests were used to analyze the association between different factors.

Results
Students with better health showed higher compliance to hand hygiene, but reported lower safe sex practices (p<0.05). Likewise, students with chronic disorders were more skeptical of vaccines (p<0.05). Students reporting healthy eating habits displayed a higher compliance to hand hygiene (p<0.05) and safe sex (p<0.05), while students who were more physically active showed lower confidence in vaccines (p<0.05).

Conclusions
This study indicates that significant correlations exist between numerous variables related to socio-demographic and lifestyle factors with infection prevention behavior. Moreover, there is a need to increase the compliance of infection prevention behavior among youth. Hence, more health promotion programs should be implemented focusing on infection prevention behavior in young individuals.