Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia
Abstract Background The global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve forming the most impactful health crises in modern history, necessities of individuals adhering to mandatory behavior change that limits the spread of the pandemic. The purpose of the current study is to identify beha...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1dd407c2fdef45e391ba9d6582587e40 2023-05-15T15:14:29+02:00 Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia Eman M. Mortada Ghada Moh Samir Elhessewi 2022-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 https://doaj.org/article/1dd407c2fdef45e391ba9d6582587e40 EN eng SpringerOpen https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 https://doaj.org/toc/2090-262X doi:10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 2090-262X https://doaj.org/article/1dd407c2fdef45e391ba9d6582587e40 Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association, Vol 97, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2022) COVID-19 pandemic Perceived risk Precautionary behavioral response Health belief model Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 2022-12-30T21:56:35Z Abstract Background The global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve forming the most impactful health crises in modern history, necessities of individuals adhering to mandatory behavior change that limits the spread of the pandemic. The purpose of the current study is to identify behavioral responses of the health sciences university students during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and determine risk perceptions using the health belief model (HBM). Methods A cross-sectional study using an online survey distributed among health sciences female university students in Riyadh, KSA. The questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographic characteristics; knowledge about COVID-19 and its preventive measures, risk perceptions, and beliefs using the HBM; and their actual adoption of precautionary measures. Results The mean age of 286 respondents was 21.6 years (SD 2.5). They had good knowledge, positive risk perception, and good practice. Fifty-seven percent of the respondents adhere satisfactorily to COVID-19 precautionary behavior. Respondents with positive overall risk perception had around 6 times significantly higher adherence compared to those with negative risk perception. Perceived benefits have higher odds of adherence to COVID-19 precautionary behavior. Similarly, cues to action were a significant determinant of adherence to COVID-19 precautionary behavior. Conclusions The constructs of the HBM provided good measurement of risk perception and the respondent students had good knowledge. Yet, significant gaps were shown between COVID-19 perceived risks and the students’ actual practice of personal hygienic measures, particularly hand hygiene. To put an end to the present COVID-19 and its upcoming waves, it is highly recommended to direct COVID-19 training programs specifically tailored towards university students. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association 97 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
COVID-19 pandemic Perceived risk Precautionary behavioral response Health belief model Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
COVID-19 pandemic Perceived risk Precautionary behavioral response Health belief model Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Eman M. Mortada Ghada Moh Samir Elhessewi Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia |
topic_facet |
COVID-19 pandemic Perceived risk Precautionary behavioral response Health belief model Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Abstract Background The global threat of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve forming the most impactful health crises in modern history, necessities of individuals adhering to mandatory behavior change that limits the spread of the pandemic. The purpose of the current study is to identify behavioral responses of the health sciences university students during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and determine risk perceptions using the health belief model (HBM). Methods A cross-sectional study using an online survey distributed among health sciences female university students in Riyadh, KSA. The questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographic characteristics; knowledge about COVID-19 and its preventive measures, risk perceptions, and beliefs using the HBM; and their actual adoption of precautionary measures. Results The mean age of 286 respondents was 21.6 years (SD 2.5). They had good knowledge, positive risk perception, and good practice. Fifty-seven percent of the respondents adhere satisfactorily to COVID-19 precautionary behavior. Respondents with positive overall risk perception had around 6 times significantly higher adherence compared to those with negative risk perception. Perceived benefits have higher odds of adherence to COVID-19 precautionary behavior. Similarly, cues to action were a significant determinant of adherence to COVID-19 precautionary behavior. Conclusions The constructs of the HBM provided good measurement of risk perception and the respondent students had good knowledge. Yet, significant gaps were shown between COVID-19 perceived risks and the students’ actual practice of personal hygienic measures, particularly hand hygiene. To put an end to the present COVID-19 and its upcoming waves, it is highly recommended to direct COVID-19 training programs specifically tailored towards university students. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eman M. Mortada Ghada Moh Samir Elhessewi |
author_facet |
Eman M. Mortada Ghada Moh Samir Elhessewi |
author_sort |
Eman M. Mortada |
title |
Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia |
title_short |
Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia |
title_full |
Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward COVID-19 pandemic using the health belief model, Saudi Arabia |
title_sort |
assessment of perceived risk and precautionary behavior toward covid-19 pandemic using the health belief model, saudi arabia |
publisher |
SpringerOpen |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 https://doaj.org/article/1dd407c2fdef45e391ba9d6582587e40 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association, Vol 97, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 https://doaj.org/toc/2090-262X doi:10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 2090-262X https://doaj.org/article/1dd407c2fdef45e391ba9d6582587e40 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s42506-022-00111-7 |
container_title |
Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association |
container_volume |
97 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766344929261387776 |