Knowledge, Perceived Self-care Ability, and Health Behavior in New Normal Era among Adults in Congested Communities of Surabaya, Indonesia: Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic Situation

Abstract

Health behavior in COVID-19 pandemic situation needs to be measured in the general population in order to evaluate the implementation of health guidelines in the new normal era, especially WHO recommendations. Knowledge, attitude, and action are domains of health behavior that translated into COVID-19 knowledge, perceived self-care ability, and new normal health behavior in this study. We aimed at describing the knowledge of COVID-19 and the perceived self-care ability, and analyzing the differences of new normal health behavior before and after COVID-19 pandemic situation among adults living in congested communities of Surabaya, Indonesia. This cross-sectional study involved 384 respondents living in five congested communities of Surabaya, Indonesia, which enrolled by means of cluster random sampling. Research variables were measured by a self-developed valid and reliable questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used in data analysis. Ethical clearance was issued. Results showed that most respondents had very good knowledge of COVID-19 (63%) and high level of perceived self-care ability (74%). Before and after pandemic most respondents reported sufficient new normal health behavior (before: 74.7%; after: 83.9%). There was a significant difference of new normal health behavior before and after COVID-19 pandemic situation among adults living in congested communities of Surabaya, Indonesia (p=0.000). New normal health behavior was unoptimal in implementation. Therefore, efforts to improve new normal health behavior need to be done by various parties, not only the individuals, but also health care professionals and the government as policy maker.