| 摘要: | Background: COVID-19 has spread around the world, affecting every country directly and indirectly. Compared to local students, international students in Taiwan are facing more impediments under the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The objectives of this study are to assess the KAP, risk perceptions, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during different levels of lockdown on international students pursuing a degree in Taiwan.
Methods: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taiwan government formulated a four-tier system for epidemic warning. In 2021, three different levels of lockdown policies were enforced, including Level I from January to April, Level III from May to July, and Level II from August to December. We conducted surveys on three different occasion using a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire survey: 1) January to March 2021 (Level I), 2) July 2021 (Level III), and 3) August 2021 (Level II), at a university located in northern Taiwan.
Results: The results showed the percentage of sufficient knowledge of international students increased as the warning level increases and decreased significantly when the warning level was downgraded from Level III to Level II. Therefore, repetition and review are important methods to reinforce COVID-19-related health education. The percentage of positive attitudes continued to rise even after the warning level was downgraded to Level II; practices were the most relevant and closely linked to warning level. Most university and government measures were supported by international students, and most of the participants believed the “Taiwan government” is the most reliable source of information. Regarding the impact of COVID-19, most aspects (transportation, work, leisure, family life, and diet behavior) changed with the lockdown level besides “income”.
Conclusions: There is a linear correlation between lockdown policy and the attitudes and practices of international students; the stricter the lockdown policy, the better the international students adhered to healthy attitudes and practices. In addition, lockdown policies had a significant impact on their daily lives. Taiwan’s four-tier epidemic warning system and its corresponding measures appear to be effective and can provide a clear set of epidemic prevention guidelines for the public and international students. |
