en Epidemiology Original articles <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Introduction:</span></span></span></i></b><b> </b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">It is essential to adopt preventive measures to reduce the prevalence and severity of COVID-19. Given the insufficient information about the use of disinfectants against the virus, which leads to various risks, this study aims to investigate awareness</span></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">, performance</span></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">, and attitudes of the residents of Yazd city regarding using disinfectants to prevent COVID-19.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Materials and Methods:</span></span></span></i></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> In this descriptive study, the sample consisted of 271 people residing in Yazd using convenience sampling method. The tool used was a researcher-made questionnaire, which was reliable, valid, and was divided into two parts; after that the collected data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical tests. SPSS software was used for data processing, and Amos software was used for model design. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Results:</span></span></span></i></b> <span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Most participants (51.3%) were female.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The majority of participants (117 (43.2%)) aged between 30-40, and with an average age of 34.39 &plusmn; 9.6. The highest level of education attained by most participants was master&#39;s degree by 83 (30.6%) people. The mean and standard deviation for awareness (10.59 &plusmn; 2.7), attitude (40.74 &plusmn; 7.1), and performance (17.50 &plusmn; 5.1) were obtained. </span></span></span>&nbsp;<span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:112%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis showed that the total effect had the greatest impact on the use of disinfectants, with performance (&beta; = 0.032) and education (&beta; = 0.068) having the strongest effects. Increase in disinfection and having a higher level of education increased the use of disinfectants as well.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <b><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="letter-spacing:-.2pt">Conclusion:</span></span></span></span></i></b><i> </i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="letter-spacing:-.2pt">As increasing people&#39;s awareness, attitude, and performance can help prevent the spread of COVID-19, implementing educational programs and timely comprehensive information dissemination about the use of disinfectants is recommended.</span></span></span></span></div> Awareness, Attitude, Disinfectants, COVID-19. 2195 2204 http://jehsd.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-728-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Azam Tarfiei tarfieiaz@gmail.com 0000-0002-7101-7809 No Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Mohadeseh Zare Bidoki mzb9691@gmail.com 0000-0001-5039-7024 No Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Mohadeseh Motamed-Jahromi Mohadesehmotamed@gmail.com 0000-0001-6025-4879 No Department of Public Health, School of Health, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran. Mahdieh Tarfiei mtarfiei313@gmail.com 0000-0003-3145-2379 No Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University Faculty of Health of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Elham Karimi e.karimi7991@gmail.com 0000-0003-0744-3018 No Department of Safety and Environmental Management (HSE), School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Ali Asghar Ebrahimi ebrahimi20007@gmail.com 0000-0001-8542-5291 Yes Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.