Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour of college students in disposing used masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in DKI Jakarta Province [version 1; peer review: 2 approved with reservations]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for and production of masks. This creates a problem, namely the generation of mask waste which ends up in the environment without being managed. This research was conducted to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, and sociodemographic factors with college student behaviours in managing household mask waste in Daerah Khusus Ibukota (DKI) Jakarta Province. Methods: This study used a quantitative approach and cross-sectional study design. Data collection was carried out using an online questionnaire consisting of the respondents’ sociodemographic, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Results: The majority of students had high knowledge (63.3%), positive attitudes (52.5%), and good behaviours (50.6%). Statistically, there was a significant relationship between knowledge and behaviours (p-value = 0.022), but there was no significant relationship between attitudes and behaviours (p-value = 0.269). In addition, the sociodemographic factor variables showed a significant relationship between place of residence and behaviours (p-value = 0.008). However, there was no significant relationship between age, gender, education, and study program groups and behaviours (p value> 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that living with family was a dominant factor for bad behaviours (OR 1.664, 95% CI=1.124-2.464), and the second risk factor was the low level of knowledge has a significant relationship with the behaviours of mask waste management at home (OR=1.559, 95% CI=1.044-2.330). Conclusions: Students who live alone also show better behaviour compared to students who live with their families. The place of residence variable has the greatest influence on the behaviour of mask waste management at the household, followed by the knowledge variable.