The effect of peer-to-peer education on health literacy, knowledge, and adherence to COVID-19 protocols in vulnerable adolescents

BackgroundThe study was done to examine the effectiveness of peer-to-peer education on increasing health literacy, knowledge s, and observance of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health prevention protocols in vulnerable adolescents.MethodThe study was a one-group intervention (before and after the intervention) that was performed on 1200 vulnerable adolescents living in varamin. The educational intervention was presented to adolescents in a face-to-face session. In the next step, the adolescents were taught the information received by three members of their families. Data were evaluated using a self-designed questionnaire before, and three months after the intervention. The paired t-test was used to compare scores of health literacy, compliance, and knowledge before and after the intervention at a 0.05 confidence level. The Multiple linear regression model was used to determine the predictive factors of observance of COVID-19 preventive behaviors.ResultsThe most of adolescents were in the age group of 14 to 18 years (60%) and most of them were girls (61.5%). The most important source of information about COVID-19 disease was radio and television (59.6%). The results showed that the effectiveness of the intervention in increasing the adolescents' health literacy, knowledge, and adherence to preventive behaviors were 40%, 30%, and 23%, respectively. The effectiveness of the intervention in increasing their families' health literacy and adherence to the protocols were 11% and 20%, respectively (p = 0.001).DiscussionInvolving volunteer adolescents as health ambassadors and transmitting messages and methods of promoting personal protection against COVID-19 epidemics to family members had a significant effect on increasing the knowledge and adherence to the health procedures.

Automated summary

This study aimed to assess the impact of peer-to-peer education on health literacy, knowledge, and adherence to COVID-19 prevention protocols in vulnerable adolescents. The intervention involved educating adolescents face-to-face and having them transmit the information to their families. The results showed that the intervention had significant effects on increasing adolescents' health literacy, knowledge, and adherence to preventive behaviors (40%, 30%, and 23% respectively), as well as their families' health literacy and adherence to protocols (11% and 20% respectively).