Behaviour Response Among Educated Young Adults Towards COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction: The new norm of the COVID-19 pandemic may alter the behaviour of an individual either in a positive or negative health-seeking behaviour. The higher education institution may be fully operating someday and students need to practice positive health-seeking behaviour to prevent transmission of the COVID-19 virus. This study aims to identify the behavioural responses of educated young adults towards their health during COVID-19. This study also aims to determine the relationship between health-seeking behaviour and perceived risk towards COVID-19 infection in the future and to determine the association between educational background and health-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing the online survey questionnaire adapted from a previous study in 2012 by Masuri et al. that assessed behaviour response towards H1N1 pandemic. 369 participants were included in this study. The data was analysed statistically by using SPSS version 26. Results: The majority of young educated adults (90.8%) showed positive health-seeking behaviour. The result showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) in health-seeking behaviours and perceived risk towards COVID-19 infection. A significant association was found between educational background; educational level (p= 0.015) and courses (p= 0.002) with health-seeking behaviour. Conclusion: This study shows that government and schools/universities/institutions need to provide effective health promotion programs for educated young adults.