Sam Pettyjohn, Assistant Professor for the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health’s Center for Rural Health Research, co-authored an article in the Journal of American College Health. The article “Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors with mask use and vaccines for COVID-19 prevention at 13 colleges and universities, April 2021” was published online on May 2, 2023.
The cross-sectional study included colleges and universities in eight states (Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia) participating in an observational surveillance effort, the Mask Adherence Surveillance at Colleges and Universities Project (MASCUP!). The 13 institutions volunteered to conduct a campus-wide online survey assessing student KAB regarding masks and vaccinations as COVID-19 prevention strategies.
This study allowed us to better understand the impact of the pandemic on ETSU students and their responses and behaviors to the changing landscape of COVID-19 through their time at the university,” Pettyjohn said.
The study found that students were overall positive toward mask use. Over 83% of students agreed that masks protect themselves from others and 73.2% of students agreed that masks protect others from themselves.
The full article can be found online in the Journal of American College Health.
The results of the ETSU survey were previously published in the Journal of Community Health.