Knowledge of and Compliance with Cough Etiquette among Nursing and Allied Health College Students

Kim, Og Son; Oh, Jin Hwan; Kim, Kyung Mi

Abstract

BACKGROUND
This study aims to examine the knowledge of nursing and allied health-college students on cough etiquette and their actual compliance to it.
METHODS
For data collection, a structured questionnaire was created and handed out to students from 3 colleges from November 9 to November 18, 2011. The questionnaires were distributed to 300 students, and responses from 253 students were used for data analysis.
RESULTS
In total, 54.85% students provided correct answers to questions regarding their knowledge on cough etiquette. The compliance score was 34.39 (compliance rate: 61.41%). There was a positive association between knowledge of proper cough etiquette and compliance with those procedures.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that college student's knowledge of cough etiquette is low, and subsequently that their compliance with the proper procedures of cough etiquette was low. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a program to build knowledge of proper cough etiquette amongst these students.